Erin Garcia de Jesús

Staff Writer

Erin 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

  1. Health & Medicine

    AstraZeneca says its COVID-19 vaccine is 79 percent effective in a U.S. trial

    The shot was 80 percent effective at preventing illness in people 65 and older and prevented severe disease and hospitalization.

  2. Health & Medicine

    AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine isn’t tied to blood clots, experts say

    Multiple countries suspended use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine because of concerns about blood clots, but health authorities say the shot is safe.

  3. Health & Medicine

    We still don’t know for sure where the coronavirus came from. Here’s why

    A year into the pandemic, we know the virus probably came from bats, but how and why it leaped to humans are still unknown.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Coronavirus reinfections appear rare, especially in people younger than 65

    Previous infections provide 80 percent protection in younger people and 47 percent in those over 65. Vaccines might help boost immunity further.

  5. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, researchers treated chronic pain with electricity

    In 1971, doctors eased chronic pain by sending electrical impulses to the spinal cord. Fifty years later, improved techniques help paralyzed people walk.

  6. Life

    Two new books investigate why it’s so hard to define life

    For centuries, scientists have struggled to define what it means to be alive. ‘What Is Life?’ and ‘Life’s Edge’ explore the question.

  7. Health & Medicine

    The latest Ebola outbreak may have started with someone infected years ago

    Rather than stemming from a virus that jumped from an animal to a person, this outbreak might have originated from someone who had a dormant virus.

  8. Health & Medicine

    The COVID-19 pandemic is now a year old. What have scientists learned?

    As we enter the pandemic’s second year, researchers share what they’ve learned and what they look forward to.

  9. Health & Medicine

    People fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can socialize without masks, CDC says

    Two weeks after their final COVID-19 shot, people can visit other vaccinated people indoors without masks or physical distancing.

  10. Neuroscience

    Catnip repels insects. Scientists may have finally found out how

    The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in other animals, senses pain and itch.

  11. Genetics

    The oldest animal DNA ever recovered reveals mammoths’ evolution

    Mammoths evolved to handle the cold over hundreds of thousands of years and North America may been home to a hybrid species, a new study finds.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Pfizer’s vaccine appears to reduce coronavirus transmission

    People who carry low amounts of the coronavirus in their bodies are less likely to spread COVID-19. Pfizer’s shot appears to help reduce viral loads.