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Awards, arrivals, and promotions

Congratulations to our latest award winners: Cori Bargmann has won the 2016 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience, an award given by the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT to recognize outstanding advances in the field. She is being honored for her work on the genetic and neural mech...

A virus common among livestock depends on a microRNA to replicate

In the ongoing arms race between pathogenic viruses and the cells they infect, each side needs every advantage it can get. One way wily viruses can get a leg up is by subverting the microRNAs (miRNAs) of their host. These miRNAs are small stretches of RNA made by host cells to regulate gene expre...

Luciano Marraffini, among the first scientists to plumb the workings of the CRISPR-Cas system, is promoted to associate professor

by Diana Gitig, science writer Rockefeller University microbiologist Luciano Marraffini, head of the Laboratory of Bacteriology, has been promoted to associate professor. He studies the CRISPR-Cas system, which is part of an immune response that bacteria and some other microbes use to defend...

New research clarifies how stem cells get activated to produce new hair—and what happens when their regenerative powers wear out

Adult stem cells provide the body with a reservoir from which damaged or used up tissues can be replenished. In organs like the intestines and skin, which need constant rejuvenating, these stem cells are dividing frequently. But in other body structures, including the hair follicles, they are hel...

Luciano Marraffini, among the first scientists to plumb the workings of the CRISPR-Cas system, is promoted to associate professor

Rockefeller University microbiologist Luciano Marraffini, head of the Laboratory of Bacteriology, has been promoted to associate professor. He studies the CRISPR-Cas system, which is part of an immune response bacteria and some other microbes use to defend themselves against viruses known as phag...

Awards, arrivals, and promotions

Congratulations to our latest award winners: Jean-Laurent Casanova has been recognized with the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award for his work investigating the genetic basis of pediatric infectious diseases. The award is given by the American Society for Clinical Investigation, an honor society of phys...

A newly discovered form of immunity helps explain how bacteria fight off viruses

When seeking to protect themselves from viruses, some bacteria use a seemingly risky strategy: They wait until the invading virus has already begun to replicate. Research at The Rockefeller University shows how the microbes use two newly identified enzymes to fight off an infection even after del...

Study identifies signals that make early stem cells

Stem cells work throughout our lives as a sort of handyman, repairing damaged tissues and renewing some normal ones, like the skin we shed. Scientists have come to understand much about how stem cells function when we are adults, but less is known about where these stem cells come from to begin w...

Awards, arrivals, and promotions

Congratulations to our latest award winners: Luciano Marraffini has been recognized with the Hans Sigrist Prize for his work developing a new approach to fight antibiotic resistance. The Hans Sigrist Prize recognizes work in a different academic field each year based on a decision by a faculty co...

Experiments explain the events behind molecular ‘bomb’ seen in cancer cells

Since scientists have begun sequencing the genome of cancer cells, they have noticed a curious pattern. In many different types of cancers, there are cells in which a part of a chromosome looks like it has been pulverized, then put back together incorrectly, leading to multiple mutations. For yea...

Luciano Marraffini receives the Hans Sigrist Prize for work on antibiotic resistance

Luciano Marraffini, assistant professor and head of the Laboratory of Bacteriology, has been recognized with the Hans Sigrist Prize for his work developing a new approach to combat antibiotic resistance. This Swiss award, bestowed by the University of Bern, specifically honors Marraffini for mani...

Researchers discover new aspect of gene regulation and a possible target for cancer drugs

There are about 20,000 genes in the human genome, but not all are used in all cells at all times. At any given moment, a cell is converting only roughly half its genes into proteins. And of those active genes, about 75 percent are regulated by a process known as “RNA polymerase pausing.” This...

Study suggests new way to help the immune system fight off sleeping sickness parasite

Some infectious diseases are particularly difficult to treat because of their ability to evade the immune system. One such illness, African sleeping sickness, is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei, transmitted by the tsetse fly, and is fatal if left untreated. The trypanosome parasite is t...

New research helps to explain how temperature shifts the circadian clock

For many living things, a roughly 24-hour internal clock governs the rhythms of life—everything from sleep in animals, to leaf opening in plants and reproduction in bread mold. Scientists have come to understand much about this internal time-keeping system, but one important aspect, its complex r...

Study reveals new mechanism in nicotine addiction

Part of the reason people find smoking difficult to quit is that each time they have a cigarette, feelings of craving, irritability and anxiety melt away. This component of addiction is known as negative reward and is controlled in part by a region of the brain called the habenula. The neurotrans...

DNA strands often “wiggle” as part of genetic repair

Sometimes, the molecules that make up life exhibit strange behavior. For instance, in simple organisms such as yeast, when genetic material becomes damaged, the affected DNA strands increase their motion, waving about inside the cell like a sail unfurled. Over the years, scientists have seen more...

In the News - Newsday - O'Donnell

  Researchers at Brookhaven lab, Stony Brook and Rockefeller universities make new discoveries about double helix copying   "In Manhattan, Michael O'Donnell, who heads Rockefeller's Laboratory of DNA Replication, said the finding will change how students understand DNA replication. 'It's a pa...

Study reveals the architecture of the molecular machine that copies DNA

DNA replication is essential to all life, yet many basic mechanisms in that process remain unknown to scientists. The structure of the replisome—a block of proteins responsible for unwinding the DNA helix and then creating duplicate helices for cell division—is one such mystery. Now, for the ...

Researchers identify potential new leukemia drug target

New treatment options are badly needed for acute myeloid leukemia, a relatively rare form of cancer. The malignancy begins in the bone marrow, and from there can spread rapidly to the bloodstream, depriving the body of the essential blood cells that carry oxygen and fight infections. Now, new wor...

Helmsley Trust renews $15 million grant for novel digestive disorders research

by Wynne Parry, Science Writer The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has awarded a new three-year, $15-million grant to The Rockefeller University to help support the interdisciplinary Center for Basic and Translational Research on Disorders of the Digestive System. Established in 2...

Researchers probe the physical forces involved in creating the mitotic spindle

Many millions of times per day, football-shaped structures called mitotic spindles form within the body’s cells as they prepare to divide. The process is routine but mysterious, as the micro-mechanics involved are not yet well understood. In research published October 1 in Developmental Cell, sci...