News & HighlightsNews
The color of your fat could determine the level of your blood pressure
Scientists knew that obesity raises the risk of hypertension. Now Paul Cohen's team has uncovered the mechanism—and the enzyme—that explains how fat can stiffen blood vessels and drive blood pressure upward.
How beige fat keeps blood pressure in check
New study shows that beige fat suppresses an enzyme that promotes high blood pressure, revealing a new molecular pathway and a potential target for future precision therapies.
New engineered derivative of a natural molecule could translate into a powerful replacement for IVIG therapy for a wide array of autoimmune disorders
In experiments with mice, the new molecule accomplished the same job at a hundredth of the dose.
What these scientists revealed about the structure of the T cell receptor could help resolve a decades-old debate over how T cells get activated
Researchers discovered new characteristics of a T cell receptor that’s essential to a variety of cutting-edge T cell immunotherapies.
This new insight into T cell receptors may improve cancer immunotherapies
Researchers discovered that a crucial first step in the signaling system operates differently than previously thought, an insight that could lead to the next generation of treatments.
Scientists can finally answer an old question about cellular aging
Replicative aging of human cells, the result of telomere shortening, is slower at physiological oxygen than at atmospheric oxygen, a difference now shown to be due to low oxygen impairing the ATM kinase response to withered telomeres.
Researchers develop a potential IVIG replacement for treating autoimmunity that’s significantly more potent
The discovery could greatly improve patient experience and address supply shortages.
Increasing levels of the protein PI31 demonstrates neuroprotective effects in mice
Boosting PI31 has been shown to head off Parkinson’s-like disorders and extend lifespan in fruit flies and mice, pointing to a possible new therapeutic target for treating rare neurodegenerative diseases, as well as more common disorders, such as Alzheimer's.
Mitochondrial antioxidant found to drive breast cancer metastasis
Researchers have learned that the antioxidant glutathione, when operating inside mitochondria, is a key factor enabling tumors to spread from the breast to the lung.
How new genes get switched on
After nearly a decade of cataloguing evolutionarily young genes, complementary studies are the first to demonstrate how they are regulated and expressed.
This brain circuit drives the urge to mate. Except when it doesn’t.
Scientists discovered an identical neural circuit that operates differently in male and female mice.
Mapping how nutrients move through the body to treat cancer
Kivanç Birsoy is uncovering the hidden metabolic pathways that cancer cells exploit. His work could also optimize strategies for using nutrition to improve human health.
Novel method dramatically improves cryo-EM’s imaging capabilities
Researchers have devised a way to visualize molecules that are very rare, very small, or hard to produce naturally—including some viruses.
Two Rockefeller researchers chosen for the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York Investigator Program 
Kivanç Birsoy and Ekaterina Vinogradova will head projects that aim to harness and bioengineer immune cells for the early detection, prevention, and treatment of disease.
Clinical trials show new antibody therapy offers long-lasting HIV control without daily medication
Results presented at Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections show that two broadly neutralizing antibodies can keep HIV suppressed for months.
New understanding of B cell mutation strategies could have implications for vaccines
New study demonstrates how high-affinity B cells "bank" their best traits instead of rolling the dice and risking deleterious mutations, with implications for better vaccine design.
How solving a hepatitis B paradox opened the door to new therapies
A collaboration between Rockefeller, MSK, and Weill Cornell answers a longstanding mystery about the basic biology of the hepatitis B virus, while also proposing a novel therapy.
Researchers uncover key insights into how the body protects against neuron damage
New research on nematodes reveals how glial cells maintain and monitor neuronal dendrites.
Study reveals how unexpected shifts in cell populations are revising our understanding of the aging process
A newly created atlas of 21 million cells could upend long-held assumptions about how we age and provide fresh directions for anti-aging therapies.
A new class of antivirals could help prevent future pandemics
Researchers discovered a vulnerability in viral enzymes that could lead to novel treatments for diseases as diverse as COVID and Ebola, while also minimizing side effects and reducing the odds of drug resistance.
Cancer cells may be using lipids to hide from the immune system
New study demonstrates that one type of lipid is so critical for immune evasion that certain cancers cannot proliferate without them. Modulating intake of dietary lipids could open up an avenue for treatment.
This technique for studying cell receptors could have sweeping implications for drug development
Researchers created a tool capable of comprehensively mapping crucial interactions underlying drug efficacy in one superfamily of cell receptors.
Second genetic sensor for DNA methylation discovered
CDCA7, whose mutations alter DNA methylation pattern and cause immunodeficiency, is a novel sensor for a special class of methylated DNA.
New genetic tool could identify drug targets for diseases associated with metabolic dysfunction
A novel platform for identifying metabolic gene functions has already revealed interactions between proteins and metabolites that are fundamental to cell metabolism.
Key mechanism for maintaining proper telomere length identified 
New findings describe how the enzyme CST is recruited to the end of the telomere, where it maintains telomere length with the help of subtle chemical changes made to the protein POT1.
How one scientist's fascination with RNA changed medicine forever
Thomas Tuschl has devoted his career to making discoveries that bridge the gap between bench and business—and have resulted in entirely new classes of drugs.
Double trouble at chromosome ends
The end replication problem dictates that telomeres shrink unless telomerase intervenes. But the problem is actually twice as complicated, with telomerase providing only part of the solution.
Cutting-edge methods yield surprising insights into Huntington’s disease
New findings add depth to our understanding of neurodegeneration.
Keeping telomerase in check
Telomerase could run amok, deleteriously capping damaged DNA, were it not for a first responder to DNA damage.
Luciano Marraffini wins Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science
Marraffini is honored for his pioneering research on the study of CRISPR-Cas systems.
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