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

    Bacteria use poison to make food

    Bacteria from Mono Lake conduct photosynthesis with arsenic, a form of the process that may be a relic of life on Earth before the advent of an oxygen atmosphere.

  2. Life

    H9N2 avian flu strain has pandemic potential

    Just one change in a strain of avian flu virus makes it transmissible by direct contact in ferrets, but the virus still lacks the ability to spread by airborne particles.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Never bet against a pro

    Players run a simulation of a throw in their own brains and muscles and are more accurate at predicting whether a shot will go in the basket than coaches, sports journalists or novice watchers.

  4. Humans

    Neandertal mitochondrial DNA deciphered

    Researchers have completed a mitochondrial genome sequence from a Neandertal. DNA taken from a 38,000-year-old bone indicates that humans and Neandertals diverged 660,000 years ago and are distinct groups.

  5. Life

    Eat less, weigh more

    Separate neurons in the nematode brain control eating and fat-building. The discovery may help explain some mysteries of obesity.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Neuron Killers

    Misfolded, clumping proteins evade conviction, but they remain prime suspects in neurodegenerative diseases.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Dopamine could help the sleep-deprived still learn

    Sleep loss impairs fruit flies’ ability to learn, just as it does in people. But boosting dopamine in the flies can erase these learning deficits.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Protein links metabolism and circadian rhythms

    Scientists have known for ages that metabolism is tied to the body’s daily rhythms. Two new studies suggest how.

  9. Health & Medicine

    MapQuest for the mouse spinal cord

    The Allen Institute for Brain Science unveils an online atlas of the mouse spinal cord. The atlas is a tool for researchers studying spinal cord injury, disease and development.

  10. Life

    HIV after DARC

    A gene variant prevalent in people of African descent increases the risk of HIV infection but also helps slow disease progression.

  11. Life

    Astrocytes are rising stars

    Astrocytes, brain cells previously thought to be support cells for neurons, regulate blood flow in the brain and may aid neuron signaling. The regulation of blood flow makes visualizing brain activity with fMRI possible.

  12. Life

    Fountain of Youth, with caveats

    A chemical in red wine thought to mimic the life-extending properties of calorie restriction improves health, but doesn’t necessarily lengthen life; it could also harm the brain.