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.
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All Stories by Tina Hesman Saey
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Neuroscience
Just one night of poor sleep can boost Alzheimer’s proteins
Deep sleep may prevent the buildup of Alzheimer’s proteins.
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Genetics
How a crop-destroying fungus mutated to infect wheat
Study details how wheat got a new pathogen called blast fungus.
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Genetics
DNA evidence is rewriting domestication origin stories
DNA studies are rewriting the how-we-met stories of domestication.
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Genetics
Horse version of ‘Who’s your daddy?’ answered
Genetics and horse pedigrees reveal all modern domestic stallions’ sires.
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Life
Chronic flu patients could be an early warning system for future outbreaks
Cancer patients’ long-term flu infections may preview future viruses.
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Life
Scientists spy on the secret inner life of bacteria
New images reveal the inner workings of bacteria.
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Genetics
DNA reveals how cats achieved world domination
Analysis of 9,000 years of cat remains suggests two waves of migration
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Health & Medicine
New heart attack treatment uses photosynthetic bacteria to make oxygen
Photosynthetic bacteria can produce oxygen to keep rat heart muscles healthy after a heart attack.
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Health & Medicine
Therapy flags DNA typos to rev cancer-fighting T cells
Genetic tests help identify cancer patients who will benefit from immune therapy.
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Health & Medicine
Choosing white or whole-grain bread may depend on what lives in your gut
Gut microbes determine how people’s blood sugar levels respond to breads.
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Life
When it comes to the flu, the nose has a long memory
Mice noses have specialty immune cells with long memories.
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Genetics
Jumping genes play a big role in what makes us human
Jumping genes have been a powerful force in human evolution.