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

    Airborne transmission of Ebola unlikely, monkey study shows

    No evidence found of macaque monkeys passing deadly virus to each other.

  2. Genetics

    Debate rages over mouse studies’ relevance to humans

    Last year, researchers said rodents are not good mimics of human inflammation; a new study says the reverse.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Mummies reveal hardened arteries

    Mummy studies suggest heart disease is an ancient malady, not just the product of modern diets and sedentary lifestyles.

  4. Life

    For yeast life span, calorie restriction may be a wash

    A new technique for growing and tracking yeast cells finds caloric restriction doesn’t lengthen life span, though some researchers question the study method.

  5. Genetics

    Gene activity change can produce cancer

    Scientists have long thought that epigenetic changes, which alter gene activity, can cause cancer. Now they have demonstrated it in a mouse experiment.

  6. Life

    Pregnancy disorder shares aspects with Alzheimer’s

    Misfolded proteins, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s and mad cow diseases, are found in urine of women with preeclampsia.

  7. Life

    Domesticated animals’ juvenile appearance tied to embryonic cells

    Mild defects in embryonic cells could explain physical similarities along with tameness across domesticated species.

  8. Life

    Microscapes take off at D.C’s Dulles airport

    “Life: Magnified,” a display of microscope images depicting cells, microbes and details of life invisible to the naked eye runs from June to November.

  9. Life

    Fiber optics in mammals’ eyes separate colors

    Specialized cells in the retina separate different wavelengths of light to enable sharp vision during the day without harming night vision.

  10. Life

    Dramatic retraction adds to questions about stem cell research

    Researchers who reported an easy method for making stem cells admit mistakes mar their work, and have retracted their papers from Nature.

  11. Life

    Tibetans live high life thanks to extinct human relatives

    DNA shared by modern-day Tibetans and extinct Denisovans suggests people picked up helpful genes through interbreeding with other hominids.

  12. Life

    Stem cell papers retracted

    Researchers who reported easy method for making stem cells admit mistakes mar their work, and have retracted their papers from Nature.