September 3, 2008 | honors and awards
C. Erec Stebbins awarded prestigious EUREKA grant

C. Erec Stebbins, associate professor at The Rockefeller University, has been awarded an inaugural EUREKA grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project aimed at exploiting a bacteria-based “nanosyringe” as a means of delivering proteins into specific cells for therapeutic purposes. The award, which provides $200,000 a year for three years, was announced by the NIH September 3.

August 28, 2008 | science news
U.S. and China tie for Olympic glory, according to statistician

By applying a statistical method originally developed to understand side effects associated with medical treatments, scientists have computed an objective score for each country in the Beijing games. The result: China and the United States are dead even, each ranking ahead of 85 other countries.

August 26, 2008 | studies and trials
Clinical study to examine role of vitamin D in kidney disease

Vitamin D is the key to preventing rickets and osteoporosis, but a new clinical study at Rockefeller University will investigate whether it also plays a role in preventing atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease.

August 20, 2008 | science news
Newly uncovered cells may be critical in psoriasis

In a study that could change researchers’ understanding of the skin disorder and suggest potentially powerful new drug targets, Rockefeller University scientists have found that the source of psoriasis may lie in a specific population of inflammatory dendritic cells.

August 19, 2008 | science news
Intensity of human environmental impact may lessen as incomes rise, analysis suggests

The richer you are, the more of the world’s resources you can afford to consume. But in many parts of the world, rising incomes are not having the proportionate effect on energy consumption, croplands and deforestation that one might expect, a new 25-year study shows.

August 19, 2008 | science news
Rifamycin antibiotics attack tuberculosis bacteria with walls, not signals

When it comes to describing how a potent class of antibiotics kills deadly tuberculosis-causing bacteria, the more beautiful model is not always the right one. New research shows that a simple physical barrier rather than a complex allosteric mechanism still best explains how these antibiotics keep the bacteria in check — and how they fight back.

August 15, 2008 | science news
By amplifying cell death signals, scientists make precancerous cells self-destruct

On the cellular level, death signals can actually be life saving, by killing off abnormally dividing cells before they turn cancerous. Now, Rockefeller University researchers have found a way to amplify these signals by turning a life-affirming protein into a killer. The findings not only mark a breakthrough in the field but also open the door to a new line of drugs for cancer therapeutics.

August 13, 2008 | science news
A snooze button for the circadian clock

Humans, and most other organisms, have 24-hour rhythms that are regulated by a precise molecular clock that ticks inside every cell. A new study by Rockefeller University researchers shows how two molecules interact to regulate this clock’s cycle and uncovers how that switch can go haywire, identifying a potential cause of heritable sleep disorders.

August 11, 2008 | science news
Researchers solve structure of an enzyme vital for DNA repair

As freshly made DNA coils into a chromosome, cells recognize DNA damage in need of repair. Now, a new study shows how an enzyme known as Rtt109, which creates slack in the coils in order to allow the cell access to fix the errors, is regulated.

August 7, 2008 | science news
Molecular bridge serves as a tether for a cell’s nucleus

Without support, a cell’s nucleus would be barely able to withstand the forces that keep it in place. But new research reveals a network of molecules in the nuclear membrane that provide rigidity and facilitate a previously undiscovered form of communication between the cell’s nucleus and its cytoplasm.

August 6, 2008 | science news
A positive-feedback system ensures that cells divide

Every time a cell makes the decision to divide, it faces a formidable task: synchronizing the activity of hundreds of genes and proteins so that two daughter cells can be born. Now, Rockefeller University researchers show that a positive-feedback loop helps keep these events in sync — a finding that has eluded scientists for decades.

July 31, 2008 | science news
In lean times, flies can’t survive without their sense of smell

In the wild, survival means everything. Now, working with fruit flies reared under laboratory conditions, researchers at Rockefeller University have shown that in times of plenty, the sense of smell is irrelevant for survival. But when food is scarce, a well-functioning nose can mean the difference between life and death.

July 30, 2008 | science news
Eroded telomeres are behind a rare premature aging syndrome

At a time when the world seems to be age-obsessed, researchers at Rockefeller University reveal the molecular defect behind a rare yet fatal premature aging syndrome, findings that may ultimately help scientists disentangle which genes play a role in the normal aging process from those involved in age-related disease.

July 25, 2008 | campus news
Rockefeller Archive Center becomes an independent organization

After 34 years as part of the university, The Rockefeller Archive Center, which catalogs and stores the university’s administrative and scientific records and also handles archival material from several other organizations and from the Rockefeller family, has become an independent organization.

July 21, 2008 | appointments and promotions
Clinical immunologist to join Rockefeller University

Jean-Laurent Casanova, a distinguished pediatrician and immunologist who comes from Hospital Necker for Sick Children in Paris, will join the faculty at The Rockefeller University as professor of medicine and head of the Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases in September 2008.

July 17, 2008 | science news
New evidence of battle between humans and ancient virus

Human ancestors fought back against an ancient retrovirus with a defense mechanism that our bodies still use today. Evidence of this battle has been preserved in our DNA for millions of years.

July 15, 2008 | appointments and promotions
Rockefeller announces tenure appointments of two faculty

Rockefeller University president Paul Nurse has announced the tenure promotion of two faculty members: Tarun Kapoor, a researcher in cell division and head of Rockefeller’s Laboratory of Chemistry and Cell Biology, and Michael P. Rout, head of the Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, which focuses on the nuclear pore complex. Both were promoted from associate professor to professor.

July 11, 2008 | science news
Glia guide brain development in worms

When the stakes are high, communication is crucial. In a landmark discovery, Rockefeller University scientists have identified a system in the C. elegans brain that allows them to study how brain cells, neurons and glia, talk to each other — the dialogue that shapes and guides the developing brain.

July 2, 2008 | science news
New antibiotic beats superbugs at their own game

The problem with antibiotics is that, eventually, bacteria outsmart them and become resistant. But Rockefeller University scientists have tested a new drug, called Ceftobiprole, that may be able to outwit them.

July 2, 2008 | science news
Newly identified enzyme treats deadly bacterial infections in mice

Four years after drug companies began mass-producing penicillin, bacteria showed they could fight back, developing machinery that could resist antibiotics and even destroy them. Now, Rockefeller University researchers have recruited an unexpected ally that could disarm bacteria of this most ingenious weapon and put these “superbugs” on the losing side of a war they have dictated and dominated for decades.