News & HighlightsNews
Scientists detect an ancient odor-detecting mechanism in insects
In 1913 Theodore Roosevelt added cartographer to his resume when he and his crew ventured up an unspeakably dangerous and uncharted tributary named the River of Doubt. Now, on a charting expedition of their own, Rockefeller University scientists have completed a journey that has also defied expec...
Researchers develop a device that mimics one of nature's key transport machines
To help protect its genes, a cell is highly selective about what it allows to move in and out of its nucleus. Yet that choosiness is regulated by just a thin barrier, perforated with tiny transport machines called nuclear pore complexes: protein-coated holes surrounded by flimsy, unfolded protein...
Structural study backs new model for the nuclear pore complex
In higher organisms, the genetic material is confined and protected in the cell nucleus. In order for a healthy cell to function, the DNA must send manufacturing orders through the double membrane of the nucleus and into the cell’s cytoplasm, where the protein production factories are and where m...
Rockefeller microbiologist tests safety of spiked eggnog
With one in every 20,000 eggs contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, drinking homemade eggnog can be something of a gamble. But an experiment designed to test whether the alcohol in spiked eggnog can kill the deadly bugs suggests that, in general, few bacteria survive in a mixture containing both...
Single letter in the human genome points to risk for high cholesterol
Write out every letter in the human genome, one A, C, T or G per millimeter, and the text would be 1,800 miles long, roughly the distance from New York to Colorado. Now, in the search for genes that affect how humans synthesize, process and break down cholesterol, a consortium of researchers led ...
Defensive protein killed ancient primate retroviruses, research suggests
Retroviruses are the worst sort of guest. Over eons, these molecular parasites have insinuated themselves into their hosts’ DNA and caused a ruckus. The poor hosts can’t even be rid of the intruders by killing them, because they stubbornly remain after death. As much as eight percent of the huma...
An enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene
The human immune system is in a perpetual state of self-experimentation. It expertly mutates and shuffles the DNA of its own cells to evolve new defenses against the vast array of microbes that try to invade our bodies. But when the genetic experiment goes awry, the result can be a deadly cancer....
Scientists drill holes through deadly bacteria's Kevlar-like hide
To protect themselves from human defenses, disease-causing bacteria have evolved a cell wall made from a nearly impenetrable tangle of tightly woven strands. That’s made it difficult for scientists to see what goes on inside these potentially deadly organisms. But that era is now over. In researc...
Structure of a virulent pathogen revealed
Like high-profile politicians, pathogenic bacteria dispatch advance teams to make way for their arrival. But these bacterial agents don’t just secure a safe passage, as a Secret Service detail might do. Rather they are teams of molecules that bacteria inject into cells they want to colonize, sent...
Research identifies cell-receptor as target for anti-inflammatory immune response
Invading pathogens provoke a series of molecular heroics that, when successful, muster an army of antibodies to neutralize the threat. Like with any close-quarter combat, however, an aggressive immune response runs the risk of friendly fire accidents. For the last decade, immunologists have inten...
View
View