The media is trumpeting the coming of a pre-natal test for autism.

Simon Baron-Cohen, developmental psychologist and author of the article on which all this hype is based, said that his research is about finding the cause of autism and is not motivated by developing a pre-natal test for autism.

Doesn’t one follow from the other? Regardless of Baron-Cohen’s research motivations, he has no control over the implications of his findings.

A story in Nature today looks at Baron-Cohen’s controversial ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism, and highlights the opposition from the scientific community.

Another story in the Guardian questions the reliability and safety of such a test, if it were ever developed.