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. T cells
    Health & Medicine

    T cells may help COVID-19 patients — and people never exposed to the virus

    Researchers found certain immune cells that help the body fight off an infection in the blood of people who recovered from a coronavirus infection.

  2. Mnemiopsis ledyi
    Animals

    Some comb jellies cannibalize their young when food is scarce

    Invasive warty comb jellies feast on their larvae after massive population booms in the summer deplete their prey from waters off of Germany.

  3. Antibody test
    Health & Medicine

    What coronavirus antibody tests tell us — and what they don’t

    Antibody tests can give a clearer picture of who has been infected but don’t guarantee immunity for those who test positive.

  4. Life

    Toxin-producing bacteria can make this newt deadly

    Bacteria living on the skin of some rough-skinned newts produce tetrodotoxin, a paralytic chemical also found in pufferfish.

  5. Testing in Melbourne, Fla.
    Humans

    Here’s where things stand on COVID-19 tests in the U.S.

    Government officials are weighing how to loosen social distancing measures across the United States, but that hinges on widespread COVID-19 testing.

  6. person holding fabric mask
    Health & Medicine

    Can fabric masks stem the coronavirus’ spread?

    It’s unclear whether homemade masks made from fabric will prevent an infected person from spreading the virus to others, experts say.

  7. Wendy Chung witha patient
    Genetics

    The PBS documentary ‘The Gene’ showcases genetics’ promise and pitfalls

    A film from executive producer Ken Burns delivers an unfiltered history of genetics, showing how the science has helped and hurt people.

  8. virus particle illustration of a global map
    Health & Medicine

    How coronavirus control measures could affect its global death toll

    Slowing the virus’ spread will save millions of lives, but differences among countries could vary the pandemic’s toll in different places.

  9. Health & Medicine

    There’s no evidence the coronavirus jumped from pangolins to people

    Pangolins captured in anti-smuggling activities in southern China were found to harbor viruses related to the new coronavirus.

  10. longfin inshore squid
    Genetics

    Squid edit their genetic material in a uniquely weird place

    Some squids’ seeming ability to edit RNA on the fly could help scientists develop a technique much like the DNA-editing tool CRISPR, but for RNA.

  11. Tongue-dwelling bacteria
    Health & Medicine

    Here’s where bacteria live on your tongue cells

    Scientists labeled bacteria from tongue scrapings with fluorescent probes to glimpse at how the microbes structure their communities.

  12. young adults at Pompano Beach
    Health & Medicine

    Young adults can face severe cases of COVID-19, too

    While risk of having a severe case of COVID-19 rises with age, younger adults are also landing in the hospital and ICU, new U.S. statistics show.