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. Neuroscience

    How domestication changed rabbits’ brains

    The fear centers of the brain were altered as humans tamed rabbits.

  2. Life

    Here’s how drinking coffee could protect your heart

    Coffee’s heart-healthy effects rely on boosting cells’ energy production, a study in mice suggests.

  3. Life

    It may take a village (of proteins) to turn on genes

    Clusters of proteins transiently work together to turn on genes, new microscopy studies of live cells suggest.

  4. Humans

    What I actually learned about my family after trying 5 DNA ancestry tests

    Ancestry results vary widely depending on which company you use.

  5. Genetics

    DNA testing can bring families together, but gives mixed answers on ethnicity

    DNA testing has become a new way for millions of Americans to expand their family trees and learn something about themselves, but results vary widely.

  6. Genetics

    Why using genetic genealogy to solve crimes could pose problems

    Rules governing how police can use DNA searches in genealogy databases aren’t clear, raising civil rights and privacy concerns.

  7. Life

    Dogs carry a surprising variety of flu viruses

    Dogs in China carry a wider variety of flu viruses than previously thought, and may be capable of passing the flu to humans.

  8. Genetics

    What consumer DNA data can and can’t tell you about your risk for certain diseases

    Consumers face lots of choices and unanswered questions when they get personal genomic information related to disease risk from the Internet.

  9. Neuroscience

    Here’s why scientists are questioning whether ‘sonic attacks’ are real

    Sonic attacks would be hard to pull off and a terrible way of incapacitating diplomats, experts say.

  10. Genetics

    Genetic sleuthing again IDs a murder suspect in a cold case

    The arrest of a second murder suspect with the help of genetic genealogy raises worries that suspicionless searches may be next.

  11. Genetics

    What genetic tests from 23andMe, Veritas and Genos really told me about my health

    A Science News reporter tried out three consumer genetic testing companies to see what people really learn about their health.

  12. Genetics

    Consumer DNA testing promises more than it delivers

    Chances are your DNA doesn’t contain dark secrets. But there may be lots of variety in results from testing company to company.