Rachel Ehrenberg

Previously the interdisciplinary sciences and chemistry reporter and author of the Culture Beaker blog, Rachel has written about new explosives, the perils and promise of 3-D printing and how to detect corruption in networks of email correspondence. Rachel was a 2013-2014 Knight Science Journalism fellow at MIT. She has degrees in botany and political science from the University of Vermont and a master’s in evolutionary biology from the University of Michigan. She graduated from the science writing program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

All Stories by Rachel Ehrenberg

  1. Life

    DNA defense

    Scientists find a type of white blood cell releases its mitochondrial DNA, along with toxic proteins, as a defense against invading bacteria.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Perfumed mother’s milk

    New study shows synthetic musks are passed on to babies through mother’s milk, but how these artificial compounds act in the body still unclear.

  3. Plants

    Parasitic plant gets more than a meal

    The parasitic vine known as dodder really sucks. It pierces the tissue of other plants — some of which are important crops — extracting water and nutrients needed for its own growth. But it also consumes molecules that scientists could manipulate to bring on the parasite’s demise.

  4. Ecosystems

    Tracing Tahitian vanilla

    The discovery of Tahitian vanilla’s heritage could set off a custody battle between nations.

  5. Health & Medicine

    The two faces of prion proteins

    Scientists are learning more about the protein behind mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, including how to interfere with the protein’s production in the brains of mice.

  6. Life

    Frog builds toes, then legs

    A small frog appears to jump-start its skeletal development, turning on genes for building feet and toes before bothering to build its legs.

  7. Life

    Seeing without eyes

    Scientists are looking into the cellular pathways that allow an eyeless roundworm to see.

  8. Stranded: A whale of a mystery

    Scientists generally agree that sonar can trigger strandings of certain whales, but no one really knows what leads these deep divers to the beach.

  9. Animals

    Mighty mites

    Mites that were thought to be parasites to their host wasps turn out to be bodyguards, attacking intruders.

  10. Ecosystems

    Ecosystem engineers

    Nonnative earthworms are deliberately burying ragweed seeds, enhancing the weed’s growth, researchers report.

  11. Plants

    Move it or lose it

    Climate change may have dire consequences for California’s native plants, which may need to take refuge in some the areas under pressure for development.

  12. Chemistry

    Catching your breath

    Scientists are investigating how to use the human breath to diagnose diseases and environmental ills.