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. Three genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease risk

    Three new genes that raise the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease have been discovered in two large genome-wide searches.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Mice with mutation feel the burn

    Instead of becoming obese, mice with a mutation in an immune gene burn off the fat they eat.

  3. Life

    Tasmanian devils have no star networkers

    Tasmanian devils all know each other, a new study shows. The discovery could mean that stopping the spread of an infectious cancer will be harder than previously thought.

  4. Life

    A gene for a short night’s sleep

    Alterations in a gene called DEC2 lead to a shortened sleep period in people, mice and fruit flies.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Neurons play Simon Says

    A new study finds evidence for mirror neurons in people.

  6. Life

    Protein plays three cancer-fighting roles

    The tumor suppressor protein, p53, has three ways to protect cells from turning cancerous. A new study shows that p53 helps make microRNAs.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Caloric restriction extends life in monkeys, study finds

    New study finds calorie restriction delays age-related diseases in monkeys. Another study reports that an immune-suppressing drug helps elderly mice live longer.

  8. Health & Medicine

    You Are Who You Are by Default

    A neural network active when the brain is at rest may prove critical to zoning out, a sense of self and envisioning the future.

  9. Life

    Salamanders don’t regrow limbs from scratch

    A closer look at regeneration in axolotl amputees shows that tissue replacement relies on cellular “memory.”

  10. Life

    Protein protects sperm in mice

    A protein called GPX5 helps protect sperm from oxidative damage. The finding could help prevent birth defects.

  11. Health & Medicine

    A role for Merkels

    Mysterious skin cells known as Merkel cells are required to sense light touches.

  12. Life

    Huntington’s protein may have a crony

    The mutant protein implicated in Huntington’s may rely on a second protein. The finding could help explain why only some neurons are vulnerable to the disease.