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

    No rest for weary fruit flies

    Fruit flies with insomnia may help researchers track genetic factors that lead to the sleep disorder.

  2. Life

    Four marmosets are first transgenic primates

    Scientists in Japan have successfully introduced a foreign gene into a primate species for the first time, opening a new avenue for modeling human diseases, particularly brain disorders.

  3. Life

    Genetic analysis of swine flu virus reveals diverse parts

    Detailed genetic analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus indicates that its components have been present for years. The virus is still susceptible to drugs and vaccine development.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Neurons take a break during stage 2 sleep

    Electrical markers associated with stage 2 sleep indicate downtime for neurons.

  5. Health & Medicine

    ‘Super Size’ diet increases insulin resistance

    Scientists study effects of a month-long fast food binge, finding that weight gain and insulin resistance may be related.

  6. Life

    For blood stem cells, the force is strong

    Blood flow boosts production of blood stem cells, two new studies show.

  7. Life

    Misread epigenetic signals play role in leukemia

    A genetic mistake causes misinterpretation of epigenetic marks, leading to cancer.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Narcolepsy linked to immune system

    Genome association study finds a second connection between the sleep disorder and the body's disease-fighting apparatus

  9. Health & Medicine

    Brain reads word-by-word

    The brain reads words as whole units and processes the information quickly, two studies suggest.

  10. Life

    Connectivity may play role in autism

    Large studies of autism suggest connections between neurons are the culprit.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Morning birds buckle under sleep pressure

    Sleep pressure helps set the circadian clocks of early birds and night owls.

  12. Life

    New neurons don’t heal

    New neurons produced in the brain after a stroke don’t grow into all the cell types needed to heal the wound.