Esther Landhuis

Freelance Writer

A former lab rat, Esther Landhuis is a California-based freelance journalist who writes about biomedicine and STEM diversity. Her stories have also appeared in Science News, Scientific American, NPR, Nature, Chemical & Engineering News and Undark.

All Stories by Esther Landhuis

  1. Microbes

    Explainer: Where antibiotics came from

    A mold proved the source of the first known antibiotic: penicillin. But chemical dyes would lead to the first antibiotics used in treating people.

  2. Plants

    Wily bacteria create ‘zombie’ plants

    Scientists have discovered how some plant pathogens ensure their own survival by transforming flowering plants into strictly leaf-producing ones. These green ‘zombies’ attract insects that the parasites need to help them spread to other plants.

  3. Fossils

    Scary ‘chicken’ roamed Earth with T. rex

    Scientists have just pieced together evidence of a weird new dinosaur that sported sharp claws, feathers and a beak. And it just may have been one of the last dinos to roam Earth about 67 million years ago.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Some of chocolate’s health benefits may trace to ‘bugs’

    Dark chocolate offers people a number of health benefits. A new study finds that the breakdown of chocolate by microbes in the human gut be behind some benefits.