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

    Lager’s mystery ingredient found

    After scouring the globe, researchers find the missing ancestor of the yeast used to make cold-brewed beer in an unexpected place.

  2. Life

    Butterfly species a master of disguise

    Supergene allows butterfly to mimic several species.

  3. Life

    Parkinson’s protein comes in fours

    A better understanding of alpha-synuclein's structure could lead to ways of treating or preventing the disease.

  4. Life

    Rare gene variants linked to ADHD

    Missing or added genes cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other disorders, such as autism.

  5. Life

    DNA switches tied to non-Hodgkin lymphoma

    Genetic defects lead to altered activity in other genes.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Tossing, turning, forgetting

    A new study in mice finds that sleep disturbance erodes memory.

  7. Life

    Shuffling the genetic deck

    Scientists map places where chromosomes mix and match genes.

  8. Life

    Environment blamed for autism

    A new study of twins downplays the role of genes in determining who will get autism.

  9. Life

    Prion protein is not all bad

    The molecule’s real job may be to maintain myelin around nerves.

  10. Life

    Alzheimer’s plaques due to purging flaw

    A gene controls the clearance of a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with the condition.

  11. Life

    Tasmanian devil genomes offer some hope, few answers

    While clues to combating the infectious cancer that's threatening the species remain elusive, the completion of two genetic blueprints reveals a low but stable genetic diversity.

  12. Life

    New gene therapy fixes mistakes

    For the first time scientists have repaired a damaged gene in a living mouse.