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

    Turning the gut microbiome into a chat room

    Bacterial communication molecules can help shape microbial communities after antibiotics.

  2. Genetics

    History of the United Kingdom revealed in its genes

    A genetics study finds subtle differences that reveal secrets about the history and ancestry of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  3. Humans

    History of the United Kingdom revealed in its genes

    A genetics study finds subtle differences that reveal secrets about the history and ancestry of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  4. Life

    Finches can pass H7N9 bird flu to chickens

    In laboratory experiments, society finches spread H7N9 into water when they drank, infecting chickens and quail that drank the same water.

  5. Genetics

    The upside of a demolished chromosome

    A woman’s rare genetic disease was cured when a chromosome carrying the mutant gene shattered.

  6. Health & Medicine

    In babies, turning down inflammation soothes the hurt

    Babies don’t feel nerve pain because their immune systems tamp down inflammation.

  7. Life

    For healthy eating, timing matters

    Limiting eating times improves heart function in fruit flies.

  8. Life

    Chickens to blame for spread of latest deadly bird flu

    Chickens are responsible for the second wave of H7N9 bird flu in China.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Dose of extra oxygen revs up cancer-fighting immune cells

    Extra oxygen helps immune cells shrink tumors in cancer-ridden mice.

  10. Neuroscience

    Brain cells predict opponent’s move in game-playing monkeys

    Newly discovered brain cells help monkeys predict whether a companion will cooperate.

  11. Humans

    Genetic tweaks built humans’ bigger brains

    Genetic tweaks may make human brains big.

  12. Life

    Chili peppers’ pain-relieving secrets uncovered

    Scientists discover how stuff that makes chili peppers hot relieves pain.