News & HighlightsNews
Mice use specialized neurons to detect carbon dioxide in the air
For mice, carbon dioxide often means danger — too many animals breathing in too small a space or a hungry predator exhaling nearby. Mice have a way of detecting carbon dioxide, and new research from Rockefeller University shows that a special set of olfactory neurons is involved, a finding that m...
Blood-clotting protein may be new target for Alzheimer's drugs
Despite the rapid rise of Alzheimer’s disease — the Alzheimer’s Association predicts as many as 7.7 million cases by 2030 — there are no preventative treatments available, few in the pharmaceutical pipeline, and those drugs being developed all share the same two molecular targets. Now Rockef...
Two proteins found on telomeres control DNA damage response pathways
No sooner had cells evolved linear chromosomes than they had a life-threatening problem to solve. To the machinery that repairs broken DNA, chromosome ends look a lot like breaks in need of mending, so they could elicit a DNA damage response that would ultimately be lethal to cells. Telomeres, se...
Initial trigger is not enough to determine a cell's fate
Disturbing a stem cell from its initial quiescent state was once thought to taint its gold-standard properties. However, research uncovering how a signaling pathway regulates stem cell behavior reveals that stem cells, once activated, enter a window of time during which they respond to their envi...
New method better identifies functionally related genes on the bacterial chromosome
The moment a bacterial pathogen makes contact with its host, its goal is simple: to infect. To do the job, it has to turn a specific array of genes on and off and show a little know-how in adapting to its new environment. A new tool developed at Rockefeller University allows scientists to identif...
Chromosomes are responsible for a critical enzyme's activation during cell division
In a dividing cell, chromosomes interact with cellular scaffolding — called spindle microtubules — in order to move themselves to opposite ends of the cell, ensuring that both daughter cells receive an exact copy of their parent cell’s genetic material. The microtubules that form this scaffold...
MicroRNA works with Ago2 protein to regulate blood cell development
MicroRNAs became the stars of the RNA universe when, in 2001, scientists found that these short RNAs can control whether or not genes are expressed. This month, provocative new findings cast new light on the genesis of these key biological regulators and how they carry out their function. While m...
Immune cells in the brains of aging mice prove more functional than expected
As people age past 50, their brains begin to decrease in mass. But even as neurons shrink, other brain cells appear to become more active. Microglia — the small immune cells that sense injury and the presence of pathogens in the nervous system — have shown increased activity, producing higher am...
Gift from Milstein family to support melanoma research
Howard P. Milstein, a banker and philanthropist who serves as chairman of the largest privately held bank in the U.S., has, with his family, donated $5.5 million to The Rockefeller University to create the Milstein Medical Research Program. The initial research efforts will be in the area of skin...
Announcements
The next generation In September, twenty new scientist-hopefuls will fill the gap left by this year’s graduates. Of an initial pool of 590 applicants, 12.5 percent were accepted, a number whittled down over the winter months by a screening committee overseen by the Dean’s Office and including S...
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