Erin Garcia de Jesús
Staff writer, Science News
Erin I. Garcia de Jesús is a staff writer at Science News. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Washington, where she studied virus/host co-evolution. After deciding science as a whole was too fascinating to spend a career studying one topic, she went on to earn a master’s in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her writing has appeared in Nature News, Science, Eos, Smithsonian Voices and more, and she was the winter 2019 science writing intern at Science News.
All Stories by Erin Garcia de Jesús
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Health & Medicine
RNA work that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 Nobel in medicine
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman overcame hurdles to using mRNA for medicine. This led to COVID vaccines — and maybe, one day, some for other infections.
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Animals
A new technique creates glowing whole-body maps of mice
Removing cholesterol from mouse bodies lets fluorescent proteins seep into every tissue. That has helped researchers map entire body parts.
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Health & Medicine
Stem cells can help build lab-grown organs that mimic real life
Making such organoids with 3-D printing and other tech can help researchers learn more about many troubling and potentially deadly disorders.
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Health & Medicine
Toddler now thrives after prenatal treatment for a genetic disease
Ayla was treated before birth for the rare, life-threatening Pompe disease. Now a thriving 16-month-old toddler, her treatments will still need to continue.
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Microbes
This giant bacterium lives up to its name
The newly discovered Thiomargarita magnifica is about the size of your eyelash and is surprisingly complex.
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Animals
The scent of queen ‘murder hornets’ can lure males into traps
Traps baited with compounds found in the mating pheromone of hornet queens attracted thousands of males.
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Health & Medicine
Sickle-cell gene therapies offer hope — and challenges
Doctor Erica Esrick discusses existing treatments and an ongoing clinical trial for a gene therapy to treat sickle cell disease.
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Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is sickle cell disease?
Gene mutations can alter an individual’s hemoglobin in ways that curl their blood cells. This can cause painful sickle cell disease.
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Health & Medicine
What to know as Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine rolls out for kids under 12
After a trial in which no unusual side effects were reported, and approval by the FDA and CDC, kids ages 5 to 11 will be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Health & Medicine
Millions of kids have missed routine vaccines thanks to COVID-19
The missed shots brought vaccination rates for measles, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis to their lowest levels in over a decade.
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Health & Medicine
One key change may have helped the coronavirus become a global menace
One key mutation may have helped the virus behind COVID-19 better infect human cells.
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Health & Medicine
Will we all need COVID-19 booster shots?
Experts say not yet, but booster vaccines may be coming as new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants keep emerging.