Leah Shaffer is a freelance science writer based in St. Louis, Missouri. Her stories have appeared in publications such as Wired, The Atlantic, Discover, NOVA Next and UnDark. She writes about biology, medicine and the weird critters inside and outside the human body.
Leah Shaffer
Freelance writer
From this contributor
Supplements, worms and stool: How families are trying to game the gut to treat autism traits
Scientists are playing catch-up as microbiome-based treatments for autism proliferate.
Supplements, worms and stool: How families are trying to game the gut to treat autism traits
By
Leah Shaffer
26 June 2019 | 16 min read
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Nuclear location helps control gene activity during brain development
A study of developing human brain tissue suggests that genes switch on more strongly when they move from the nucleus’s edge toward structures that contain proteins involved in making and processing RNA.
Nuclear location helps control gene activity during brain development
A study of developing human brain tissue suggests that genes switch on more strongly when they move from the nucleus’s edge toward structures that contain proteins involved in making and processing RNA.
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Giorgia Guglielmi
20 August 2026 | 4 min read
Five-year-old human brain organoids aged on schedule
The cultured spheres typically mimic only prenatal development, but the five-year-old ones grown in Paola Arlotta’s lab acquired postnatal features.
Five-year-old human brain organoids aged on schedule
The cultured spheres typically mimic only prenatal development, but the five-year-old ones grown in Paola Arlotta’s lab acquired postnatal features.
By
Claudia López Lloreda
19 August 2026 | 5 min read
Marco Facchin explores the ever-shifting landscape of neuroscience theory and philosophy
Computational explanations of cognition, though powerful, aren't the only game in town.
Marco Facchin explores the ever-shifting landscape of neuroscience theory and philosophy
Computational explanations of cognition, though powerful, aren't the only game in town.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
19 August 2026 | 1 min read