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

    Steroids reduce deaths of critically ill COVID-19 patients, WHO confirms

    The finding strengthens evidence that clinicians should give the drugs to people who are severely sick from the coronavirus.

  2. Health & Medicine

    In a first, a person’s immune system fought HIV — and won

    Some rare people may purge most HIV from their bodies, leaving only broken copies of the virus or copies locked in molecular prisons, from which there is no escape.

  3. Health & Medicine

    COVID-19 plasma treatments may be safe, but we don’t know if they work

    Blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors can be used to treat hospitalized patients, FDA says, but researchers question how well it works.

  4. Health & Medicine

    New treatments aim to treat COVID-19 early, before it gets serious

    Some new drugs that may stop the coronavirus from getting into cells, or from reproducing itself, may treat the illness as soon as it’s diagnosed.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Here’s what we know about Russia’s unverified coronavirus vaccine

    Despite incomplete testing, Sputnik V may be the first COVID-19 vaccine given to the general public, rolling out initially to teachers and doctors.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Rogue immune system reactions hint at an early treatment for COVID-19

    A comprehensive look at the immune system shows multiple ways it misfires in COVID-19. Treating with interferon early might prevent trouble later.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Hydroxychloroquine can’t stop COVID-19. It’s time to move on, scientists say

    Hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work as antiviral or a treatment for COVID-19, an abundance of scientific data suggest.

  8. Health & Medicine

    A popular heartburn medicine doesn’t work as a COVID-19 antiviral

    In lab tests, an antacid didn’t prevent coronavirus infection, but clinical tests are needed to see if it can help people who already have COVID-19.

  9. Health & Medicine

    A blood test may show which COVID-19 patients steroids will help — or harm

    An inflammation marker was a good indicator of which patients had lower or higher risks of dying or needing a ventilator when given steroids.

  10. Health & Medicine

    COVID-19 vaccines by Oxford, CanSino and Pfizer all trigger immune responses

    In three clinical trials, vaccine candidates appear safe and induce the production of antibodies and other immune cell responses against the coronavirus.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Remdesivir may work even better against COVID-19 than we thought

    Gilead Sciences says remdesivir cuts the chances of dying from the coronavirus, and data show the drug can curb the virus’s growth in cells and mice.

  12. Health & Medicine

    A COVID-19 vaccine may come soon. Will the blistering pace backfire?

    Speed is essential, but not at the expense of safety and efficacy, experts warn. Sacrificing either could damage public trust.