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

    Birth defects occur in 1 in 10 pregnancies with first trimester Zika infection

    About 6 percent of U.S. women infected with Zika virus have infants or fetuses with birth defects, according to preliminary CDC results. For women infected in the first trimester, the number is even higher: nearly 11 percent.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Year in review: Zika virus devastates Brazil and spreads fear across Americas

    The increase in microcephaly in Brazil has spread fear of Zika infection across the Americas.

  3. Tech

    Caterpillar robot uses squishy, 3-D printed legs to inch and crawl

    Squishy, 3-D printed legs help a caterpillar robot switch between inching and crawling, and offer sensory info about the world.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Microcephaly cases surge in Colombia following rise in Zika infections

    More than 400 cases of microcephaly have been reported in Colombia this year, months after Zika virus infections peaked in the country.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Microcephaly cases surge in Colombia following rise in Zika infections

    More than 400 cases of microcephaly have been reported in Colombia this year, months after Zika virus infections peaked in the country.

  6. Paleontology

    Dinosaur tail preserved in amber, with feathers

    The tail of a dinosaur trapped in amber includes both feathers and identifiable bits of bone.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Oldest traces of smallpox virus found in child mummy

    The oldest genetic evidence of smallpox comes from variola virus DNA found in a child mummy buried in a church crypt in Lithuania.

  8. Tech

    Zippy new jumping bot catches air again and again

    Leaping robot can bounce from floor to wall, parkour-style, and, like a bush baby, uses a “super-crouch” to get extra oomph out of jumps.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Database provides a rare peek at a human embryo’s first weeks

    A new 3-D atlas charts the growth of each and every organ in the developing human embryo, from the heart to the gut to the brain.

  10. Health & Medicine

    A Pap smear can scoop up fetal cells for genome testing

    Pap smear during pregnancy could offer an early way to test for fetal genetic disorders.

  11. Paleontology

    Cretaceous bird find holds new color clue

    New molecular clues in 130-million-year-old bird fossil could help paleontologists firm up case for ancient color in dinosaurs.

  12. Health & Medicine

    This week in Zika: Vaginal vulnerability, disease double trouble and more

    Puerto Rico cases of Zika suggest that the virus prefers women. And two new findings reveal more about Zika’s transmission and ability to survive outside the body.