News & HighlightsNews
Scientists discover how a well-known protein repairs broken DNA ends
During the life cycle of our cells, a minefield of environmental and biological assaults can lead to double-stranded DNA breaks, the most lethal and dangerous form of DNA damage. Now, in research published online this week inNature, Rockefeller University scientists reveal that when these breaks ...
A new role for a critical DNA molecule in the immune system
The human immune system is a brilliantly adaptable weapon against foreign invaders. But it all depends on the work of specialized cells called lymphocytes that have made a risky evolutionary gambit to mutate their own DNA. New research to be published this week in Nature shows for the first time ...
By recognizing odors, a single neuron controls reactions
“When you’re out hiking, you’ll notice that everything tastes really delicious. That’s one of the best parts about hiking, actually, is how delicious a peanut butter and raisin sandwich can be,” says Cori Bargmann, Torsten N. Wiesel Professor and head of the Laboratory of Neural Circuits a...
Molecule stops DNA replication in its tracks
The process is akin to unzipping a zipper: The sliding clamp works its way along the DNA double helix while a network of proteins work together to unwind the two strands. Proteins known as polymerases then add, in assembly-line fashion, nucleotide bases — the building blocks that make up DNA — t...
Study specifies chemical pathways for ions through cell membrane
Life ultimately depends on the traffic of tiny charged particles through porous proteins studding the membrane surrounding every cell. In research published in Nature, scientists at The Rockefeller University have for the first time mapped a stepping-stone pathway of amino acids that these charge...
Newly identified cells make fat
To understand where fat comes from, you have to start with a skinny mouse. By using such a creature and observing the growth of fat after injections of different kinds of immature cells, Rockefeller University scientists have discovered an important fat precursor cell that may in time explain how...
Scientists identify a molecule that coordinates the movements of cells
Even cells commute. To get from their birthplace to their work site, they sequentially attach to and detach from an elaborate track of exceptionally strong proteins known as the extracellular matrix. Now, in research to appear in the October 3 issue of Cell, scientists at Rockefeller University s...
A DNA-based vaccine shows promise against the avian flu
Though it has fallen from the headlines, a global pandemic caused by bird flu still has the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on high alert. Yet, to date, the only vaccines that have proven even semi-effective are produced in chicken eggs, take five to six months to prepar...
New formula predicts how people will migrate in coming decades
Nearly 200 million people now live outside their country of birth. But the patterns of migration that got them there have proven difficult to project. Now scientists at Rockefeller University, with assistance from the United Nations, have developed a predictive model of worldwide population shift...
Neuron in zebrafish may reveal clues to the wiring of the human ear
Developing neurons tend to play the field, making more connections than they will ever need. Then the weakest are cut. But Rockefeller University scientists now show that neurons in young zebrafish — vertebrates, like humans — behave differently: They immediately find a cluster of specialized ce...
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