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. Health & Medicine

    Amino acid recipe could be right for long life

    In fruit flies, a low-calorie diet with extra methionine extends lifespan without harming fertility

  2. Life

    Gene stops tumors, but only when it’s gone

    When a single copy of the microRNA processor Dicer is disabled, cancer can become more deadly. Removing Dicer completely, though, stops tumors.

  3. Life

    Bone regulators moonlight in the brain as fever inducers

    Study in mice suggests proteins could be source of post-menopausal hot flashes.

  4. Life

    Corn genome a maze of unusual diversity

    Multiple teams announce complete draft of the maize genome, with a full plate of surprises that include hints about hybrid vigor.

  5. Life

    Penguin DNA evolving faster than thought

    Comparing the DNA in modern birds to that in ancient generations shows molecular evolution happens at varying rates, and that each species has its own rate of evolution.

  6. Life

    Newborn cells clear space in brain’s memory-maker

    Rodent study offers first evidence that neurogenesis clears old memories in key part of the brain to make way for new ones.

  7. Life

    Genetic effects suggest FOXP2 role in language evolution

    Human version of the protein alters activity of 116 genes compared with the chimp version.

  8. Life

    African genetic diversity

    Researchers are just beginning to explore the genetic landscape of the cradle of humanity

  9. Health & Medicine

    Skin bacteria different in diabetic mice

    An excessive number and low diversity of skin bacteria could explain why wounds in diabetics are slow to heal

  10. Humans

    A gene critical for speech

    Scientists argue a newly discovered stretch of DNA essential for larynx development may have allowed the evolution of language.

  11. Missing genes? Sometimes, it’s not a problem

    Chunks of the genome appear to be disposable and many healthy people do without substantial stretches of DNA, Science News reports from the American Society of Human Genetics meetings in Honolulu, Hawaii

  12. Health & Medicine

    Brain speed-reads using just one part

    Scientists measure the speed of recognizing, manipulating and producing speech in human brains.