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

    The new COVID-19 drug remdesivir is here. Now what?

    Remdesivir may shorten recovery time for some people, but it isn’t available to everyone and it won’t end the pandemic on its own.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Loss of smell and taste may actually be one of the clearest signs of COVID-19

    Data from a symptom tracker smartphone app used by millions of people shows two-thirds of positive patients reported losing these senses.

  3. Health & Medicine

    A multiple sclerosis drug may speed COVID-19 recovery

    One form of interferon may boost the immune system’s ability to fight the coronavirus early in infections, a small study suggests.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Some existing drugs might fight COVID-19. One may make it worse

    Maps of interactions between coronavirus proteins and host proteins point to drugs that may slow viral growth, but cough medicine may stimulate growth.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Remdesivir is the first drug found to block the coronavirus

    Preliminary results suggest that an antiviral treatment speeds recovery from COVID-19.

  6. Health & Medicine

    More evidence hints that hydroxychloroquine doesn’t help treat COVID-19

    A malaria drug showed no benefit over standard care in two preliminary studies examining how well hydroxychloroquine works against the coronavirus.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Why 6 feet may not be enough social distance to avoid COVID-19

    Scientists who study airflow warn that virus-laden drops may travel farther than thought.

  8. Health & Medicine

    COVID-19 may be most contagious one to two days before symptoms appear

    The coronavirus probably spreads the most before symptoms appear, making containing viral transmission harder.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Just breathing or talking may be enough to spread COVID-19 after all

    Until now, experts have said that the virus spreads only through large droplets released when people cough or sneeze, but it may spread more easily.

  10. Genetics

    No, the coronavirus wasn’t made in a lab. A genetic analysis shows it’s from nature

    Scientists took conspiracy theories seriously and analyzed the coronavirus to reveal its natural origins.

  11. Health & Medicine

    HIV drugs didn’t work as a coronavirus treatment in a clinical trial

    Antiviral HIV drugs “showed no benefit” when given to patients severely ill with COVID-19.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Coronavirus is most contagious before and during the first week of symptoms

    As major efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic go into effect around the globe, researchers are figuring out just when patients are most contagious.