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Intriguing science discoveries of 2025
Across fields as diverse as evolution, mechanobiology, and antibiotic discovery, here are some of the intriguing discoveries that came out of Rockefeller in 2025.
This new, one-two punch could knock out drug-resistant TB
Researchers found that pairing the antibiotic rifampicin with a second compound turned multidrug resistance into a weakness—providing proof of concept for using basic science to design life-saving dual-drug strategies.
Hess Center for Research on Women’s Health and Biomedicine holds its inaugural symposium
Covering topics from osteoarthritis to neurodevelopment, the inaugural symposium of the Marlene Hess Center showcased research that illuminates how biological sex shapes health and disease.
A new reference brain could make the clonal raider ant a go-to model species for neuroscience  
Researchers created this first-of-its kind map by merging 40 ant brains into one.
Why understanding stem cells lies at the root of treating diseases from psoriasis to cancer
Elaine Fuchs has spent decades uncovering why our bodies are so good at regenerating skin—and how we might harness that understanding to combat illness, hair loss, and possibly the aging process itself.
New model demonstrates how a dynamic mechanism regulates traffic through the nuclear pore complex
A new study reveals that nuclear pore complexes—tiny gateways in a cell’s nuclear membrane—are governed by dynamic action.
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.
DNA transcription is a tightly choreographed event. A new study reveals how it is choreographed.
A first-of-its-kind platform reveals how the molecular machine that turns DNA into RNA controls the speed of transcription.
Your memories are governed by hidden timers inside your brain
Neuroscientists have long posited that memory functions like an on/off switch—either your brain remembers something or it doesn’t. Priya Rajasethupathy’s team discovered why the truth is more complicated.
How the brain decides what to remember
New research reveals a cascade of molecular timers unfolding across the hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex determine whether short-term impressions consolidate into long-term memory, with implications for memory-related diseases.
Mechanical forces are key to embryonic self-organization
Scientists used light-inducible gene expression to demonstrate that formation of the body axes in human embryo models requires an interplay between chemical cues and mechanical forces.
This molecular switch helps cancer cells survive harsh conditions
When under cellular stress, breast cancer cells turn on genes that promote tumor growth and stress resistance.
Faculty members Kivanç Birsoy and Jun Cao receive promotions
Birsoy has been promoted to professor with tenure and Junyue Cao has been promoted to associate professor. In addition, Birsoy has been named the Joseph L. Goldstein Professor.
Rockefeller tops an international ranking of research impact
According to the 2025 CWTS Leiden Ranking Open edition of over 2,800 universities from 120 countries, Rockefeller has the highest percentage of most frequently cited scientific publications.
Rockefeller startup aims to change the course of treatment for severe autoimmune diseases
Nuvig, a biotech company cofounded by Jeffrey Ravetch, has launched phase two trials and raised $200 million.
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.
This immune circuit may protect the brain from Alzheimer's
A newly identified molecular pathway shifts microglia into a protective state, and may lead to Alzheimer's therapies that can reprogram the brain’s own immune defenses.
Researchers release the world’s first head-to-toe cellular atlas of the mosquito
The global effort, led by Rockefeller University, just made the most dangerous animal in the world a lot easier to study—and perhaps defeat one day.
Major milestone achieved in capturing ribosome assembly
Using AI and other cutting-edge techniques, researchers have captured the first near-continuous "molecular movie" of ribosome formation—revealing, frame by frame, how cells build the protein factories that make life possible.
What we got wrong about mosquito mating
Researchers have discovered the first evidence of what happens when a female mosquito chooses to mate for the one and only time in her life.
When it comes to mating, female mosquitoes call the shots
Scientists discovered that a subtle behavior by the female mosquito dictates whether mating is successful.
Steve Bonilla is named an HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
Bonilla is the first Rockefeller scientist to be named a Hrabowski Scholar. The program invests in exceptional early-career scientists, providing salary and generous support for research and equipment for five years.
New study reveals how tiny but powerful gatekeepers guard the nucleus
Scientists solve the long-standing mystery of how nuclear pore complexes make split-second decisions about which molecules to allow to pass through their molecular gates.
Jeffrey M. Friedman is awarded the 2025 Albany Medical Center Prize
Friedman is recognized for his discovery of the hormone leptin, establishing a biological basis for obesity.
Rockefeller University Press returns to campus
After decades operating off campus, the university’s scientific publishing arm has a sunny new office on the top floor of Weiss. 
Breaking bread and building bonds
Rockefeller’s new Community Connections Lunch Series invites colleagues to take a break, meet new people, and share in a sense of belonging.
How cells move and change shape—and why it matters for our health
Greg Alushin is decoding how the body’s building blocks sense and respond to force, with implications for everything from cancer to developmental disorders.
Pickleball mania comes to Rockefeller
There are a variety of ways to participate in the wildly popular sport on campus.
What could an ant’s sense of smell teach us about social organization?
Scientists have revealed a previously unknown form of ofaction gene regulation that may be broadly shared across insect species—opening up a new window into studying connections between genes and social behaviors.
Nearly a thousand kids and their families attend Rockefeller’s annual science festival
RockEDU’s annual festival for kids in kindergarten through grade eight, drew another excited and energized crowd.
Preserving synaptic communication may be key to preventing neurodegeneration
By boosting a single protein, PI31, Rockefeller scientists restored a cleanup system in the brain—preventing neuronal degeneration and extending lifespan in flies and mice, and potentially pointing toward a new strategy for treating Alzheimer's and related disorders.
Peggy Rockefeller concert series kicks off new season
The popular chamber music series, featuring acclaimed artists performing in Caspary Auditorium, returns on September 30.
Six postdocs from around the world share their experience at Rockefeller
In celebration of National Postdoc Week, we spoke with several young scientists around campus about life at Rockefeller.
How an ant's nose knows
New study reveals a previously unknown mechanism that ensures that each olfactory neuron expresses only one odorant receptor, with broad implications for the study of gene regulation.
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.
There are countless species of bacteria scientists have never seen. This lab develops techniques that allow scientists to see them.
Their newest technique has already uncovered hundreds of hidden bacterial genomes and two promising antibiotics. Now, the same approach could unlock an entire microbial universe—reshaping drug discovery and our understanding of how bacteria shape our environment.
Hundreds of new bacteria, and two potential antibiotics, found in soil
Newly identified compounds appear effective against drug-resistant bacteria. The technique used to reveal them could uncover many more antibiotics, as well as help illuminate a previously hidden microbial world.
Developmental biologist Maria Jasin wins the 2025 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize
Jasin's fundamental research on repair of damaged DNA in cells has transformed our understanding of cancers linked to inherited gene mutations. She will be presented with the award on September 16.
Researchers keep a mammalian cochlea alive outside the body for the first time
The technological breakthrough may improve our understanding of the cellular mechanisms behind hearing and its loss, which remain poorly understood.
David Baltimore, Rockefeller's sixth president, has passed away
An extraordinary scientist, Baltimore’s discovery of reverse transcriptase—the copying of RNA into DNA that could be inserted into the genome—had profound implications in biology.
These genetic insights into rheumatoid arthritis could help design better treatments
Dana Orange’s research may help predict flares, provide precise drug targets, and enable interventions that block symptoms before they begin.
Campus club discusses milestone discoveries with the Rockefeller researchers who made them
The monthly lunch series offers attendees the chance to break bread with prominent scientists on campus.
A. James Hudspeth, neuroscientist who unlocked secrets of hearing, has died
Hudspeth, a Rockefeller neuroscientist who discovered how sound waves are converted into electrical signals in the ear’s cochlea, was 79.
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.
Immunotherapy drug eliminates aggressive cancers in clinical trial
The researchers demonstrate that an engineered antibody improves a class of drugs that has struggled to make good on its early promise.
Researchers gather to investigate the building blocks of social behavior
From mosquito courtship to primate memory, a recent symposium hosted by the Rockefeller’s Price Family Center and the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University highlighted ongoing research into how social behaviors emerge.
RockEDU helps local teachers reimagine classroom research
Developed through Rockefeller’s summer outreach program, the “RockEDU Sandbox” offers a path to hands-on inquiry that sparks curiosity and exploration, on and off campus.
New tool helps predict antibiotic resistance
Using the novel platform could help pharmaceutical companies design longer lasting drugs.
Symposium highlights growing synergy in infectious disease research
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations that are leading to more breakthroughs, faster.
How ant queens are made
New research offers fresh insight into how different morphological types and social roles emerge in ant societies, confirming that size is coupled to caste, with genes ultimately deciding how size and caste are related within the context of a colony.
Scientists discover new method for reprogramming organelles
A recent study reveals how the nucleolus gives rise to ribosomes—and how scientists can use that knowledge to reshape the nucleolus itself.
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.
Restricting an amino acid found in common foods could potentially speed up wound healing
Research shows low levels of the amino acid serine trigger a process that turns hair follicle stem cells into skin repair specialists—and that diet may have a role to play.
Rockefeller team finds flawed data in recent study relevant to coronavirus antiviral development
New research demonstrates that a previously published structure and mechanism for RNA capping at work in coronaviruses is incorrect, with potentially sweeping implications for the quest to develop drugs targeting these pathogens.
Why scientists and policy experts are trying to map the genomes of every animal, plant and fungal species in the US
The Vertebrate Genomes Project has set its sights on creating high-quality reference genomes to help answer some of science’s biggest questions.
Rockefeller to expand residential composting program
With support from students and city policy, the university’s popular residential composting program is helping turn food waste into community benefit
How an Alzheimer's peptide and a blood protein may combine to drive early disease pathology
New research suggests that amyloid-beta (Aβ) oligomers and the vascular protein fibrinogen may, when forming a complex, contribute to Alzheimer's disease.
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.
A community health hub that tends to body and mind
University Health and Wellness does everything from flu shots to biosafety level 3 testing.
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