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  • OUTLOOK

Could the gut microbiome be linked to autism?

Researchers are hoping to understand whether the microbes in our guts have a role in the disorder.
  1. Elizabeth Svoboda

    1. Elizabeth Svoboda is a science writer in San Jose, California.

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Before Ethan Loyola reached his first birthday, it was clear that something was wrong with his gut. As a baby, he had been given several courses of antibiotics to treat severe ear infections, after which he experienced foul-smelling, acidic diarrhoea that left him convulsed with pain. Around the age of one, Ethan lost the words he’d started to say and stopped making eye contact. Soon after that, he received a diagnosis: autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

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Nature 577, S14-S15 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00198-y

This article is part of Nature Outlook: The gut microbiome, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

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