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

    Missing genes not always a problem for people

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

  2. Genetics

    ‘Selfish’ DNA flouts rules of inheritance

    R2d2 is selfish DNA that could skew scientists’ views of adaptation and evolution.

  3. Genetics

    Prion disease gets personal

    Diagnosis of a brain-wasting disease drove a married couple into science.

  4. Humans

    Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman

    Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome.

  5. Life

    Memory cells enhance strategy for fighting blood cancers

    Immune therapy made more powerful with memory T cells.

  6. Genetics

    Neandertal DNA may raise risk for some modern human diseases

    Neandertal DNA may once have helped humans, but now may contribute to disease.

  7. Life

    Images probe artery-hardening plaques

    Zooming in on hardened arteries shows researchers which plaques pose heart attack risks.

  8. Life

    Removing worn-out cells makes mice live longer and prosper

    Senescent cells promote aging, and removing them makes mice live longer, healthier lives.

  9. Science & Society

    ‘Three-parent babies’ are ethically permissible, U.S. panel says

    A panel of experts concludes that clinical experiments that create “three-parent babies” are ethical, with limits.

  10. Genetics

    U.K. first to approve gene editing of human embryos for research

    The United Kingdom is the first government to approve gene editing in human embryos for research purposes.

  11. Genetics

    Mice can be male without Y chromosome

    Researchers bypass the Y chromosome to make male mice.

  12. Life

    MicroRNAs manage gut microbes

    MicroRNAs mold gut microbes into healthier communities for the host.