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

    In 2024, bird flu posed big risks ­— and to far more than birds

    Cows, elephant seals and polar bears are among unexpected bird flu casualties. Learn about potential risks to them, to people and to our food supplies.

  2. Animals

    Can furry pets get H5N1 bird flu and spread it to us?

    The 2024 pandemic-style bird flu circulating in birds has shown up in cats and other pet species.

  3. Genetics

    The discovery of microRNA wins the 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology

    Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered tiny snippets of genetic material, called microRNAs, that play a big role in making sure cells work as they should.

  4. Animals

    Freeze-drying turned a woolly mammoth’s DNA into ‘chromoglass’

    The 3-D structure of this now-glassy DNA revealed similarities — and differences — between woolly mammoths and elephants.

  5. Planets

    The desert planet in ‘Dune’ is pretty realistic, scientists say

     Humans could live on the fictional planet Arrakis from Dune. But thankfully giant sandworms probably could not.

  6. Health & Medicine

    A new type of immune cell may cause lifelong allergies

    These special memory cells were present in people with allergies and absent in those without.

  7. Animals

    Tardigrades survive harsh conditions by almost dying. Here’s how

    Under stress, a chemical change signals these water bears to switch between live and mostly dead.

  8. Life

    Bacterial fossils exhibit earliest hints of photosynthesis

    Microscopic fossils from Australia suggest that some bacteria evolved structures for oxygen-producing photosynthesis by 1.78 billion years ago.

  9. Archaeology

    Ötzi the Iceman’s DNA reveals his looks and ancestry

    A reanalysis of the ancient guy’s genes shows he was balding and had dark skin. He also had an unusual amount of early farmer ancestry.

  10. Chemistry

    Creation of quantum dots wins 2023 chemistry Nobel

    The award honors three scientists who discovered and built quantum dots, which are now used in everything from TVs to medical tools.

  11. Health & Medicine

    RNA work that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 Nobel in medicine

    Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman overcame hurdles to using mRNA for medicine. This led to COVID vaccines — and maybe, one day, some for other infections.

  12. Tech

    A ‘mini cyclone’ helps detect coronavirus in the air

    A new device can detect from seven to 35 coronavirus particles per liter of air in minutes. That’s close to a PCR test’s sensitivity — but much quicker.