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. Life

    Gene found that controls beak size in Darwin’s finches

    A beak-size gene helped determine whether Darwin’s finches survived a drought.

  2. Health & Medicine

    ‘Dirty’ mice better than lab-raised mice for studying human disease

    Dirtier mice may better mimic human immune reactions.

  3. Space

    Will we know extraterrestrial life when we see it?

    Desert varnish and certain minerals hint that life — here and elsewhere — may defy current criteria.

  4. Genetics

    Gene-edited mushroom doesn’t need regulation, USDA says

    A CRISPR-edited mushroom isn’t like other GMOs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.

  5. Life

    Having worms can be good for the gut

    Parasitic worms shift gut microbes and protect against bowel disease.

  6. Genetics

    Malaria parasite doesn’t pass drug immunity to its offspring

    Malaria parasites resistant to the antimalarial drug atovaquone die in mosquitoes, a new study finds.

  7. Genetics

    Some people are resistant to genetic disease

    People who should have genetic diseases but don’t may point to new treatments.

  8. Genetics

    Researchers edit genes in human embryos for second time

    Researchers in China deploy CRISPR to alter genes in human embryos again — this time to make cells HIV-resistant.

  9. Health & Medicine

    A sugar can melt away cholesterol

    A sugar called cyclodextrin removes cholesterol from hardened arteries in mouse studies.

  10. Genetics

    Scientists build minimum-genome bacterium

    Minimal genome organism reveals how much scientists don’t know about biology.

  11. Health & Medicine

    New techniques regrow lens, cornea tissue

    Preliminary stem cell discoveries may restore lenses and corneas.

  12. Genetics

    Missing genes not always a problem for people

    Humans have ways to make up for missing genes, study suggests.