Tina Hesman Saey

Senior Writer, Molecular Biology, Science News

Science News 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 Endocrine Society, the Genetics Society of America and by journalism organizations.

All Stories by Tina Hesman Saey

  1. Animals

    Gene editing swats at mosquitoes

    A new genetic technique can render insects that spread malaria unable to reproduce.

  2. Science & Society

    Expert panel approves human gene editing

    Scientists have recently been reporting big advances in the ability to tweak the genes of living organisms, including people. But some question the ethics of doing that. A panel of experts now says such research can go ahead — with one major exception.

  3. Genetics

    Gene editing creates buff beagles

    Scientists showed that a potentially useful new gene-editing tool can work in dogs. It created a pair of adorable, muscular puppies. But the goal is to use it for other research purposes.

  4. Health & Medicine

    If you’re awake, you’re probably eating

    The idea that we eat three meals a day is a myth. People eat nearly constantly, and that may not be good for our health.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Nobel goes for developing drugs from nature

    The 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine went to scientists who used nature as the model for important human drugs to combat malaria and serious infections.

  6. Health & Medicine

    New treatments may rally ex-president’s fight against cancer

    Former President Jimmy Carter has a potentially lethal type of skin cancer that has already spread to his liver and brain. Recent improvements in medicine may help him fight it.

  7. Genetics

    DNA: Our ancient ancestors had lots more

    Ancestral humans and their extinct relatives had much more DNA than do people today, a new study finds. It mapped genetic differences over time among 125 different human groups.

  8. Health & Medicine

    How this vitamin can foster pimples

    Oh no! Vitamin B12 can cause skin bacteria to secrete chemicals that cause zits.

  9. Health & Medicine

    MERS virus hits South Korea hard

    MERS — a killer viral disease — emerged for the first time only three years ago. That was in the Middle East. Now it has spread to Asia.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Mystery solved: Why knuckles crack

    Scientists have puzzled over what makes that loud sound when our knuckles “crack.” Bubbles appear to play a role, but not in popping.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Chickens spread latest deadly bird flu

    A new bird flu virus threatens to spread outside of China. Experts traced the germ to markets where live chickens are sold.

  12. Health & Medicine

    How hot peppers can soothe pain

    Peppers can burn the tongue, but soothe sore tissues. Scientists have now sleuthed out how, and the answer shows a role for stretch sensors on cells.