News & HighlightsNews
Maybe the virus isn't the problem 
Why do some with COVID end up on ventilators while others get a scratchy throat—and yet others seem to have dodged the virus entirely? Answers are emerging from scientists around the globe.
Researchers reveal an ancient mechanism for wound repair
The study is the first to identify a damage response pathway that is distinct from but parallel to the classical pathway triggered by pathogens.
Gum disease may lie at the root of some arthritis flare-ups
Damaged gums may release bacteria into the bloodstream that trigger arthritis flare-ups, potentially explaining why people with gum disease don't respond as well to arthritis treatments.
How to end a pandemic in one jab 
Universal vaccines can give years of protection against polio, measles, and smallpox, among other diseases. Pamela Bjorkman believes HIV, influenza, and COVID are next.
New tool to study hepatitis B could open the door to a cure
Just as the Rice lab’s work on HCV exposed that virus’s weaknesses, the hope is that this novel approach could do the same for HBV.
Seeking the origin story of de novo genes
Li Zhao studies the intriguing genes that emerge from previously silent or non-coding stretches of DNA.
Scientists discover brain region linking short-term to long-term memory
The anterior thalamus plays such a key role in memory that boosting it in mice consolidates the animals' trivial experiences into long-term memories.
What you get is not just what you see 
Scientists have built a novel AI system that rewrites the rules for computer vision. It might soon turn neuroscience on its head.
New technique captures unprecedented view of the active brain
The tech, dubbed MesoLF, captures 10,500 neurons buried at once-inaccessible depths, firing from brain regions many millimeters apart, simultaneously—all with unprecedented resolution.
Pioneering forestry researcher Suzanne Simard to receive the 2023 Lewis Thomas Prize
The author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest will be presented with Rockefeller’s prestigious science writing award on April 17.
Innovative approach opens the door to COVID nanobody therapies
The relatively simple and low-cost procedure could empower laboratories in low-resource areas to generate nanobodies against SARS-CoV-2, as well as other viruses.
Illuminating the evolution of social parasite ants
The findings offer a new way to understand how some ants become total layabouts.
Emil C. Gotschlich, creator of lifesaving vaccines, has died
A molecular chemist whose work has protected millions of people from bacterial meningitis, Gotschlich passed away on February 14. He was 88.
Homing in on the genetics of severe COVID in children
A trio of faulty genes fail to put the brakes on the immune system’s all-out assault on SARS-CoV-2, leading to the inflammatory overload characteristic of MIS-C.
The nutrient that cancer cells crave
Starving cancer cells of a key amino acid could potentially render tumors more vulnerable to the body’s natural immune response.
Elaine Fuchs awarded Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science
Fuchs receives the honor for illuminating the genetics of skin diseases and the mechanisms that guide skin renewal, yielding insights into aging, inflammation, and cancer.
A unique window into "original antigenic sin"
The body's first blush with a pathogen shapes how it will respond to vaccines. New evidence clarifies how this phenomenon works, mechanistically.
How the body's B cell academy ensures a diverse immune response
A diverse immune response hinges on naive B cells mingling with high affinity ones in the late-stage germinal center. Whether that helps or hinders, however, depends on the virus.
Remembering a pioneer of chromatin biology
Charles David Allis, a molecular biologist who shaped the field of chromatin biology, died on January 8 at the age of 71.
Why older fathers pass on more genetic mutations to their offspring
It's not just the number of mutations that matters. It's the failure to fix them too.
Solving a crucial bottleneck in drug discovery
A novel method reduces the time required to identify novel antibiotic-producing DNA from weeks to days.
When the body's B cell training grounds stay open after hours
While most germinal centers shut down after a few weeks, some stay in business for more than six months. A new study helps explain why.
Intriguing science discoveries of 2022
Breakthroughs in genetics, biochemistry, neuroscience, infectious disease, and drug development were a few of the year's highlights.
Markus Library prepares researchers for new NIH data management policy
The library is offering new tools and training to support researchers operating under an updated NIH policy.
How a cell's mitochondria make their own protein factories
The findings shed a rare light on mitoribosomes, the unique ribosomes found within the cell's mitochondria.
How antibody therapy impacts COVID vaccines
People who receive monoclonal antibodies before vaccines may benefit from increased coverage, due to antibody feedback inhibition.
Research on rare genetic disease sheds light on a common head and neck cancer
Patients with Fanconi anemia have an elevated risk for squamous cell carcinoma, a highly aggressive head-and-neck cancer. New findings pinpoint the mechanisms linking the two conditions, and also shed new light on how smoking or drinking may elevate anyone’s cancer risk.
Cancer stem cells are fueled through dialogue with their environments
The findings suggest that many of the mutations in cancer may simply be setting in stone a path already forged by the tumor stem cell’s aberrant dialogue with its surroundings.
Ant pupae secrete fluid as "milk" to nurture young larvae
This newly discovered “social fluid” appears to unite ant colonies across developmental stages into one superorganism.
A new institute devoted to research on global infectious disease is funded by a $75 million grant
Rockefeller’s new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research will provide a framework for international scientific collaboration.
Eight Rockefeller scientists designated most influential researchers
Clarivate, a British analytics company, recognizes individuals "who demonstrate significant and broad influence among their peers in their chosen field or fields of research."
From the piano bench to the lab bench
Gabriel D. Victora is unlocking the mysteries of how the body generates antibodies to defend itself from pathogens. But there was a time when science was not even on his radar.
Promising new drug target for a rare liver cancer
Fibrolamellar carcinoma needs one specific mutation in order to thrive, and impeding it reduces tumor growth in mice.
Fruit flies move their retinas much like humans move their eyes
Insects cannot move their eyes the way humans do during a tennis game. But new research suggests fruit flies evolved a different strategy to adjust their vision without moving their heads.
New evidence of biochemical states and force working in concert
When an actin filament bends during cell movement, older actin deforms differently than newer actin, allowing regulatory proteins to tell the two states apart.
Mathematical modeling suggests counties are still unprepared for COVID spikes
If jurisdictions plan to share resources in advance, the study concludes, this could prevent one rare event from overwhelming a county or state.
Shixin Liu wins 2023 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science
Liu is one of four scientists across the country to receive the prestigious prize, which recognizes scientists who have immigrated to the United States for early-career contributions.
Why some people are mosquito magnets
The female mosquito will hunt down any human, but some of us get bitten far more than others. The answer why may be hidden in our skin.
Sohail Tavazoie elected to the National Academy of Medicine
A trailblazing physician-scientist, Tavazoie has substantially expanded our understanding of the mechanisms enabling some tumors to spread from one body site to another. He is the 18th member of Rockefeller’s faculty elected to the academy.
Albany Medical Center Prize awarded to C. David Allis
Allis receives the honor for discovering new mechanisms regulating gene expression.
The brain cells that slow us down when we're sick
New study pinpoints the cluster of neurons that tell mice to eat, drink, and move around less when they're fighting bacterial infections.  
New workshop brings exceptional scholars to campus
Postdoctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds attended the two-day program, designed to ease their transition to independent investigators.
Common mutation linked to COVID mortality
Because three percent of the world population possesses these gene variants, the findings may have implications for hundreds of millions of individuals around the world.
Josefina del Mármol named Blavatnik Regional Award Winner in life sciences
Del Mármol receives the honor for her research leading to the first-ever molecular images of an olfactory receptor at work.
The tech that money can’t buy 
What if the tool needed to move science forward doesn’t yet exist? Here are gadgets and techniques born from improvisation that made impossible experiments possible.
Tim Stearns becomes new dean of graduate and postgraduate studies
Stearns, who assumes the role on September 1, reflects upon his new job and his vision for the university’s educational programs.
Rockefeller postdocs Begüm Aydin and Alain Bonny named Hanna Gray Fellows
Aydin, of the Mucida lab, and Bonny, a member of the Fuchs lab, received HHMI’s prestigious fellowship for exceptional early career scientists on August 24.
Unlocking the mystery of how mosquitoes smell humans
Through questioning their assumptions about how mosquitoes sense and interpret odors, scientists may have discovered why efforts to throw the vectors of dengue and Zika off the human scent have not succeeded.
Nicola Khuri, theoretical physicist and scientific-community builder, has died
Nicola N. Khuri, a theoretical physicist known for using math to describe and predict what happens when elementary particles collide in giant accelerators, died on August 4 at age 89.
New faculty member unlocks vast chemical spaces for drug discovery
Jiankun Lyu will join Rockefeller as an assistant professor on January 1, 2023.
New faculty member plumbs the depths of fast-track evolution 
Lamia Wahba will join Rockefeller as an assistant professor on January 1, 2023.
Ant colonies behave like neural networks when making decisions 
Colonies decide to flee rising temperatures in much the same way that neural computations give rise to decisions.
How the intestine replaces and repairs itself
A new study suggests that stem cells are able to integrate cues from their surroundings and coordinate their behavior across tissue through networks of vasculature in their close vicinity.
Stem cells are growing up 
The controversy and hype have died down. The science is very much alive­, creating new directions for discovery.
Colorectal cancer tumors both helped and hindered by T cells
Researchers have long disagreed over whether ??T cells in the gut promote or discourage tumor growth, but new evidence suggests they have the capacity to do both.
New study reveals where memory fragments are stored
The research demonstrates the distributed nature of memory processing in the brain, and reveals a dedicated pathway for memory recall, which is less understood than memory formation.
A venerable tree ends its tenure
After gracing the university’s north-south pathway for decades, a London plane tree was cut down due to interior decay and the resulting safety risk. Removal of the deciduous giant required a team of highly-experienced arborists.
Beak speak 
How did songbirds start singing? Neuroscientists are reshaping our understanding of speech—pinpointing the cells and molecules that built it and what happens in the brain when we learn a new word, chirp, or squeal.
New portrait of five trailblazing women scientists from Rockefeller’s past is unveiled
With a new portrait by artist Brenda Zlamany, installed over the fireplace in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Reception Hall, the likenesses of scientists Marie Daly, Rebecca Lancefield, Louise Pearce, Gertrude Perlmann, and Florence Sabin have joined the university’s art collection.
Philanthropy 2.0 
Private investments are making it possible to reimagine 21st-century bioscience. Cori Bargmann envisions a future with opportunity for researchers everywhere.
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