Tina Hesman Saey

Tina Hesman Saey

Senior Writer, Molecular Biology

Senior writer Tina Hesman Saey is a geneticist-turned-science writer who covers all things microscopic and a few too big to be viewed under a microscope. She is an honors graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she did research on tobacco plants and ethanol-producing bacteria. She spent a year as a Fulbright scholar at the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, studying microbiology and traveling.  Her work on how yeast turn on and off one gene earned her a Ph.D. in molecular genetics at Washington University in St. Louis. Tina then rounded out her degree collection with a master’s in science journalism from Boston University. She interned at the Dallas Morning News and Science News before returning to St. Louis to cover biotechnology, genetics and medical science for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. After a seven year stint as a newspaper reporter, she returned to Science News. Her work has been honored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the Endocrine Society, the Genetics Society of America and by journalism organizations.

All Stories by Tina Hesman Saey

  1. Health & Medicine

    Can a COVID-19 vaccine’s second dose be delayed? It’s complicated

    New data indicate that delaying second doses of COVID-19 vaccines may still provide protection, but some scientists aren’t convinced it’s OK.

  2. Genetics

    The first human genetic blueprint just turned 20. What’s next?

    The Human Genome Project led to many medical advances. Deciphering 3 million African genomes and using new tech to fill gaps could lead to even more.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Some Neandertal genes in people today may protect against severe COVID-19

    Neandertal DNA on chromosome 12 may affect genes involved in a biochemical chain reaction that ends with the destruction of viral RNA.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Making masks fit better can reduce coronavirus exposure by 96 percent

    Double masking, rubber bands and other hacks can produce a tighter fit and prevent aerosol particles that can carry coronavirus from getting through.

  5. Health & Medicine

    One-shot COVID-19 vaccine is effective against severe disease

    The effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine at preventing hospitalization and death holds up against a South Africa variant of the coronavirus.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine is effective, but less so with some variants

    Novavax’s vaccine fends off the original coronavirus and a U.K. variant, but had more trouble with a South Africa variant.

  7. Genetics

    Some identical twins don’t have identical DNA

    Mutations arising early in development may account for genetic differences between identical twins.

  8. Health & Medicine

    The FDA has authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Now what?

    It’s the first to win emergency use approval in the United States.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Experts recommend the FDA approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

    Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is one step closer to emergency use authorization in the United States.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Here’s what you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccines

    There are still important unknowns about how Pfizer’s vaccine and others will work once they get injected in people around the world.

  11. Health & Medicine

    The ‘last mile’ for COVID-19 vaccines could be the biggest challenge yet

    The need for cold storage and booster shots could create problems for distributing coronavirus vaccines to nearly everyone in the world.

  12. Health & Medicine

    The U.K. is the first country to authorize a fully tested COVID-19 vaccine

    Pfizer will deliver the first of 40 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine promised to the United Kingdom in the coming days.