Stories by Rowan Jacobsen

Rowan Jacobsen is a journalist and author of several books, such as Shadows on the Gulf (Bloomsbury, 2011) and Truffle Hound (Bloomsbury, 2021). His many magazine articles include “The Invulnerable Cell” in Scientific American’s July 2019 issue and “Ghost Flowers,” published in February of that year. He was a 2017–2018 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Follow Rowan Jacobsen on Twitter @rowanjacobsen Credit: Nick Higgins

Biotech

Artificial Proteins Never Seen in the Natural World Are Becoming New COVID Vaccines and Medicines

Researchers have begun to crack the code of protein structure, allowing them to remake, well, everything

June 22, 2021 — Rowan Jacobsen

Biology

The World’s First Virus-Proof Cell, with Redesigned DNA, Is About to Meet the Test of Its Life

Biologists are building an organism that can shrug off any virus on the planet. Impervious human cells may be next

July 1, 2019 — Rowan Jacobsen

Conservation

Rebuilt Wetlands Can Protect Shorelines Better Than Walls

Fortified wetlands can protect shorelines better than hard structures

April 2, 2019 — Rowan Jacobsen

Biology

Fragrant Genes of Extinct Flowers Have Been Brought Back to Life

The genes of Hawaiian plants, extinct for more than a century, have been brought back from the dead. Today we can smell their scents

February 1, 2019 — Rowan Jacobsen

Conservation

Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here

One of the driest countries on Earth now makes more freshwater than it needs

July 29, 2016 — Rowan Jacobsen and Ensia