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. Microbes

    Microbes signal deceased’s time of death

    In a study using mice, germs accompany the body’s decay in a consistent time sequence.

  2. Life

    Dangerous Digs

    By properly managing a tumor cell’s microenvironment, cancer researchers are making cancer something people live with, not die from.

  3. Life

    Newfound biological clocks set by the moon

    Two unrelated marine organisms have rhythms dictated by tides, lunar cycle.

  4. Life

    Immune protein explains skin diseases’ link to infection

    Molecule called IL-29 protects people with psoriasis from viruses.

  5. Paleontology

    Dinosaur dreams dashed

    Fans of 'Jurassic Park' may be disappointed (or possibly relieved) to learn that you can’t get ancient DNA from amber.

  6. Animals

    MERS virus jumped several times from animals to humans

    More than one person caught new illness from bats, camels or other creatures.

  7. Animals

    Tiger, lion and domestic cat genes not so different

    Genomes of big felines provide insight into their evolution.

  8. Genetics

    Genes for body symmetry may also control handedness

    Lefties and righties can thank same genes that put hearts on left side for hand dominance, study of thousands of people’s DNA suggests.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Alzheimer’s disease protein structure may vary among patients

    Two people with different symptoms had amyloid-beta fibers with different shapes.

  10. Life

    Flu antibodies can make disease worse

    Pigs vaccinated against one influenza virus got lung damage if infected with another strain.

  11. Life

    Bats can carry MERS

    DNA of a deadly respiratory virus has been found in a Saudi Arabian mammal.

  12. Life

    Years or decades later, flu exposure still prompts immunity

    New forms of influenza viruses can spur production of antibodies to past pandemics in people who lived through them.