A new gene that plays a crucial role during early development in humans and whose under-expression may induce certain autistic traits has been uncovered by scientists. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which affect 7.6 million people is a major challenge. Characterized by heterogeneous symptoms and a multifactorial origin, this complex condition evolves during brain development. The scientists thus chose to study adult olfactory stem cells as indicators of the early stages of ontogenesis in order to determine new genes involved in this disease.