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For insect cells, like mouse cells, one protein decides between life and death
Cells are given life by mitochondria, an organelle that provides them with all the energy they need. But while mitochondria giveth, they also taketh away — when a cell’s time is up, they release molecules that start a cascade ending in death. At least that’s how it works in humans, mice and ot...
'Hitchhiking' chromosomes yield new theory of cell division
From the moment the cell was discovered, scientists have been dissecting the methodical, multi-step process by which they duplicate themselves. This week, Rockefeller researchers studying one component of this process — how a cell’s chromosomes move in preparation for division — announce a dis...
Study shows a fundamental difference between how insects, mammals detect odors
When smelling their favorite foods, both humans and insects usually go with their instinct and try to find the source. However, according to new research by Leslie Vosshall and colleagues at Rockefeller University, when it comes to smell, that’s about the only thing that they have in common. Voss...
New research shows how proteins make biological clock tick
Just as a pocket watch requires a complex system of gears and springs to keep it ticking precisely, individual cells have a network of proteins and genes that maintain their own internal clock—a daily rhythm that, in humans, regulates metabolism, cell division and hormone production, as well as t...
Scientists, linking gene with serotonin and depression, offer insights to new treatments
For the more than 18 million Americans who suffer from depressive illnesses, the best pharmacological treatments are those that increase levels of serotonin, the brain chemical that regulates mood, sleep and memory. New research by an international team of scientists, led by Rockefeller Universit...
New 'PhyloGibbs' software helps scientists make sense of DNA
For scientists studying the link between genes and disease, there’s no shortage of information. The genomes of humans and many other animals have been sequenced and published for several years. The challenge is making sense of the data. A new algorithm designed by Eric Siggia’s Rockefeller labo...
New genetic sequencing technique reveals possible genetic protection from heroin addiction
Sometimes, when it comes to genetics, the smallest changes can make the biggest differences. New research from the laboratory of Mary Jeanne Kreek at Rockefeller University uses a novel sequencing approach to show that even very tiny differences within genes may help protect someone from heroin a...
Protein structure suggests bacteria may be more sophisticated than we thought
When a bacterium or virus infects a plant, the plant fights back: It kills off its own cells in the area that’s infected. This immune response, known as programmed cell death, kills the invading organisms, limits its spread in the plant, and results in characteristic brown patches on the plant’s...
Watching fruit fly larvae crawl towards odors provides clues to how smells are detected
In an effort to understand how smells influence behavior, Leslie Vosshall has been watching fly larvae inch their way across Petri dishes. It may not be high-tech, but this technique has been helping scientists study neurobiology for the past 20 years. And a refinement of it, in which the larvae’...
New evidence that SARS cripples the immune system
Researchers at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC) at Rockefeller University were deeply involved in AIDS research in China when the SARS epidemic broke out in 2003. With their extensive virology background and their knowledge of the country and its government, it was only natural that...
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