Meghan Rosen headhsot

Meghan Rosen

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences

Meghan Rosen is a staff writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from the University of California, Davis, and later graduated from the science communication program at UC Santa Cruz. Prior to joining Science News in 2022, she was a media relations manager at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her work has appeared in Wired, Science, and The Washington Post, among other outlets. Once for McSweeney’s, she wrote about her kids’ habit of handing her trash, a story that still makes her (and them) laugh.

All Stories by Meghan Rosen

  1. Health & Medicine

    Zika’s role as a cause of severe birth defects confirmed

    A new analysis from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention confirms that Zika virus infection causes microcephaly and other severe birth defects.

  2. Health & Medicine

    This week in Zika: New mouse model, virus vs. placenta, nerve insulation loss

    In three new papers, scientists present a tool for studying Zika, strike down a theory of infection and offer a broad look at what the virus does to the brain.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Global obesity rates continue to climb

    Despite public health campaigns, the worldwide prevalence of obesity is on the rise, an analysis of BMI data suggest.

  4. Life

    Zika structure mapped for first time

    The newly solved structure of Zika offers scientists clues on how to combat the virus.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Three big reasons why U.S. men have a shorter life expectancy

    U.S. men’s lives are two years shorter than men in other rich countries for three reasons: guns, drugs and cars.

  6. Science & Society

    Everything you ever wanted to know about hair — and then some

    'Hair: A Human History' details the surprising role hair has played in human history.

  7. Health & Medicine

    How Zika became the prime suspect in microcephaly mystery

    New evidence in human cells strengthens the case against Zika in Brazil's microcephaly surge, but more definitive proof could come this summer from Colombia.

  8. Paleontology

    How to tell if a T. rex is expecting

    A “pregnancy” test for tyrannosaurs relies on chemical analyses of medullary bone, a reproductive tissue found in female birds.

  9. Paleontology

    True nature of ‘Tully monster’ revealed

    The identity of a 300-million-year-old enigmatic creature known as the “Tully monster” is a mystery no longer.

  10. Tech

    Computer program bests world champion 4-1 in strategy game Go

    Google DeepMind’s Go-playing computer program AlphaGo has topped Lee Sedol, the world’s reigning Go player, in a five-game match in South Korea.

  11. Tech

    Computer takes first game in match against Go world champion

    The computer program AlphaGo takes the lead in a five-match challenge of the strategy game Go.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Brazil study strengthens link between Zika virus, birth defects

    In a study of pregnant women in Brazil, nearly 30 percent of those infected with Zika virus had babies with fetal abnormalities.