Scientific researchers can spend years in the lab on obscure topics like how a sea slug remembers or how a fruit fly sees color.  And every now and then, a basic scientist makes a discovery that changes human lives.

NPR science correspondent John Hamilton tells the story of one of these discoveries.  It involves an inspired researcher, two determined parents and a young man with a devistating genetic disorder called Fragile X.

Listen to the Interview: Drugs Hint at Potential Reversal of Autism