Grace Huckins is a former editorial intern at Spectrum. Her writing has been published in Scientific American, Wired and Popular Science. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience at Stanford University in California, where she builds computer models of brain dynamics. In 2020, she was the AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Wired. She previously studied at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom as a Rhodes scholar.
Grace Huckins
Former news intern
Spectrum
From this contributor
Extra Y chromosomes are linked to autism
Data from people with more or fewer than two sex chromosomes could help answer questions around genetic protection and vulnerability.
How Helen Willsey broke new ground, frogs in hand
A young researcher faces down the skeptics.
How Helen Willsey broke new ground, frogs in hand
By
Grace Huckins
29 November 2022 | 13 min read
Searching for the biology behind autism’s sex bias
The fact that autism seems to affect more boys than girls is often attributed to diagnostic gaps, but the skew remains largely unexplained. Some scientists are turning to basic biology for answers.
Searching for the biology behind autism’s sex bias
By
Grace Huckins
11 February 2022 | 11 min read
Patchwork mutations present a new frontier for autism research
Mosaic mutations, which affect only some of the body’s cells, play a small but meaningful role in autism. Though they are difficult to study, researchers are working to master their complexity.
Patchwork mutations present a new frontier for autism research
By
Grace Huckins
12 July 2021 | 10 min read
Pandemic pressures may drive young scientists away from autism research
After a year of juggling research, childcare and COVID-19 anxiety, some early-career academics are rethinking their place in autism science.
Pandemic pressures may drive young scientists away from autism research
By
Grace Huckins
9 June 2021 | 13 min read
Explore more from The Transmitter
This paper changed my life: John Tuthill reflects on the subjectivity of selfhood
Wittlinger, Wehner and Wolf’s 2006 “stilts and stumps” Science paper revealed how ants pull off extraordinary feats of navigation using a biological odometer, and it inspired Tuthill to consider how other insects sense their own bodies.
This paper changed my life: John Tuthill reflects on the subjectivity of selfhood
Wittlinger, Wehner and Wolf’s 2006 “stilts and stumps” Science paper revealed how ants pull off extraordinary feats of navigation using a biological odometer, and it inspired Tuthill to consider how other insects sense their own bodies.
By
John Tuthill
12 January 2026 | 7 min read
Some facial expressions are less reflexive than previously thought
A countenance such as a grimace activates many of the same cortical pathways as voluntary facial movements.
Some facial expressions are less reflexive than previously thought
A countenance such as a grimace activates many of the same cortical pathways as voluntary facial movements.
By
Natalia Mesa
8 January 2026 | 5 min read
Cracking the neural code for emotional states
Rather than act as a simple switchboard for innate behaviors, the hypothalamus encodes an animal's internal state, which influences behavior.
Cracking the neural code for emotional states
Rather than act as a simple switchboard for innate behaviors, the hypothalamus encodes an animal's internal state, which influences behavior.
By
Natalia Mesa
8 January 2026 | 8 min read