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. Genetics

    In lab tests, this gene drive wiped out a population of mosquitoes

    For the first time, a gene drive caused a population crash of mosquitoes in a small-scale test.

  2. Life

    Humans have skeletal stem cells that help bones and cartilage grow

    Human skeletal stem cells have been found for the first time.

  3. Genetics

    A recount of human genes ups the number to at least 46,831

    A new estimate of the number of human genes adds in some RNA-producing genes.

  4. Life

    We may now know when hand, foot and mouth disease outbreaks will occur

    Birthrates and immunity rates predict the spread of viruses that cause hand, foot and mouth disease.

  5. Humans

    Meet the first known child of a Neandertal and a Denisovan

    DNA analysis of a bone fragment reveals Neandertal movements between Siberia and western Europe.

  6. Genetics

    Americans support genetically engineering animals for people’s health

    Genetically engineering animals is OK with Americans if it improves human health, a new poll reveals.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Cancer drugs may help the liver recover from common painkiller overdoses

    Experimental anticancer drugs may help the liver recover after acetaminophen poisoning.

  8. Life

    Tiny bits of RNA can trigger pain and itchiness

    Two microRNAs may shed light on the causes of nerve pain and itch.

  9. Life

    Here’s how fast cell death can strike

    Scientists have measured how quickly the signal to commit form of cellular suicide called apoptosis travels.

  10. Genetics

    Researchers say CRISPR edits to a human embryo worked. But critics still doubt it

    Researchers say that they have confirmed CRISPR/Cas9 edits of a heart disease–causing version of a gene, but critics still have doubts.

  11. Genetics

    The first detailed map of red foxes’ DNA may reveal domestication secrets

    Thanks to a newly deciphered genome of red foxes, researchers have pinpointed regions in the animals’ DNA linked to taming them.

  12. Genetics

    The ‘language gene’ didn’t give humans a big leg up in evolution

    Scientists have long debated the role of a gene called FOXP2 in recent human evolution.