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

    Removing a barrier to regrowing organs

    Depleting proteins that prevent cancer allowed heart cells to regenerate in mouse experiments.

  2. Life

    Sponge genes surprise

    Genome reveals that the first animals had a complex tool kit.

  3. Life

    Disabling cellular assassin prevents cancer

    A counterintuitive experiment may help explain why survivors are more vulnerable to other malignancies later in life.

  4. Health & Medicine

    ‘Housekeeping’ proteins may set aging limit

    Aging cells may seal their fate by keeping worn-out proteins when they sprout offspring.

  5. Life

    Stuck in the past

    Reprogrammed stem cells retain molecular memories of their former identities, two new studies show.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Everyone poops his or her own viruses

    The viral denizens of a person’s intestines are unique and don’t change much over time, a study suggests.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Antiaging protein also boosts learning and memory

    An antiaging molecule also helps keep the mind sharp.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Critics point to flaws in longevity study

    BLOG: A study showing a genetic basis for exceptionally long life in humans has come under fire from critics.

  9. Life

    Fertilizing future brain cells

    A new compound helps newborn neurons grow up.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Protein regulator shows promise against addiction

    Elevating levels of a tiny molecule in rats’ brains blunted the animals’ cocaine use.

  11. All Patterns Great and Small

    Researchers uncover the origins of creatures’ stripes and spots.

  12. Health & Medicine

    For most centenarians, longevity is written in the DNA

    A study of people who live past 100 reveals many genetic paths to a long life.