St. Louis is a nationally recognized powerhouse for medical research, driven by world-class institutions such as Washington University in St. Louis and Saint Louis University. Yet, for many teens and community members, the groundbreaking discoveries happening right in our backyard can feel locked behind dense academic jargon.
Mia Schactman wanted to change that. The senior at John Burroughs School recognized the gap between complex science and public understanding and drew on her hands-on research experience with CRISPR at WashU to co-found Under the Microscope. The student-run digital publication is designed to translate complex concepts into takeaways that anyone can understand.
“Science only makes a difference if people can understand it and use it,” Schactman says. “That made me want to bridge that gap.”…