Shafaq Zia

Shafaq Zia is a science journalist and a graduate student in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, she was a reporting intern at STAT, covering the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest research in health technology.

From this contributor

Spectrum

By Jill Adams, Angie Voyles Askham, Peter Hess, Shafaq Zia

10 June 2022

3 min read

Spotted around the web: COVID-19 during pregnancy, sleep problems, eugenics

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 6 June.

Spectrum

Spotted around the web: COVID-19 during pregnancy, sleep problems, eugenics

By Jill Adams, Angie Voyles Askham, Peter Hess, Shafaq Zia

10 June 2022 | 3 min read

Spectrum

By Shafaq Zia

9 December 2021

3 min read

New resource tracks genetic variations in Han Chinese populations

An online database called NyuWa catalogs genetic variations among nearly 3,000 individuals and provides a comprehensive reference genome for the Han people.

Spectrum

New resource tracks genetic variations in Han Chinese populations

By Shafaq Zia

9 December 2021 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Spectrum

By Giorgia Guglielmi

16 October 2025

6 min listen

Gene-activity map of developing brain reveals new clues about autism’s sex bias

Boys and girls may be vulnerable to different genetic changes, which could help explain why the condition is more common in boys despite linked variants appearing more often in girls.

Spectrum

Gene-activity map of developing brain reveals new clues about autism’s sex bias

Boys and girls may be vulnerable to different genetic changes, which could help explain why the condition is more common in boys despite linked variants appearing more often in girls.

By Giorgia Guglielmi

16 October 2025 | 6 min listen

Memory

By Lauren Schneider

15 October 2025

6 min listen