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. Health & Medicine

    Artificial lungs kept a man alive until he could get a transplant

    A new artificial lung system might keep people without lungs alive for weeks. Like real lungs, tubes and pumps oxygenate blood and maintain blood flow.

  2. Genetics

    AI tool AlphaGenome predicts how one typo can change a genetic story

    The tool helps scientists understand how single-letter mutations and distant DNA regions influence gene activity, shaping health and disease risk.

  3. Health & Medicine

    What the new nutrition guidelines get wrong about fat

    New U.S. dietary guidelines promote eating full-fat foods and meats. But experts say nuts and seed oils are better sources of the two crucial fats we need.

  4. Health & Medicine

    New dietary guidelines flip the food pyramid

    The new guidelines emphasizes eating protein and full-fat dairy while reducing sugar, carbs and ultraprocessed foods.

  5. Health & Medicine

    He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing

    An NIH scientist’s maverick approach reveals legal, ethical, moral, scientific and social challenges to developing potentially life-saving vaccines.

  6. Science & Society

    Funding chaos may unravel decades of biomedical research

    Battles between the Trump administration and academic institutions are putting important biomedical advances in limbo.

  7. Artificial Intelligence

    The AI model OpenFold3 takes a crucial step in making protein predictions

    The open-source AI model improves transparency in predicting how proteins interact with other molecules, which could speed up drug discovery.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Most women get uterine fibroids. This researcher wants to know why

    Biomedical engineer Erika Moore investigates diseases that disproportionately affect women of color.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Finding immune cells that stop a body from attacking itself wins medicine Nobel

    Shimon Sakaguchi discovered T-reg immune cells. Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell identified the cells’ role in autoimmune disease.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Scientists made human egg cells from skin cells

    More work needs to be done to create viable human embryos, but the method might someday be used in IVF to help infertile people and male couples.

  11. Health & Medicine

    More young U.S. adults report trouble with memory and focus

    From 2013 to 2023, the prevalence of self-reported difficulties with memory, concentration and decision-making nearly doubled among young adults.

  12. Microbes

    What makes chocolate taste so good? It’s the microbes

    Beans matter, but microbes may be the real secret to fine chocolate flavor. Scientists are building starter cultures that may improve quality.