Yearly Archives: 2009
Immune system uses a “leash” to restrict HIV’s spread
New research shows how an antiviral protein, tetherin, lashes newborn viral particles to infected cells, slowing the spread of infection. Understanding how this immune system defense works against HIV, Ebola and other deadly viruses could lead to better antiviral therapies. More »
Disrupting sleep causes problems for the body and brain
Modern life disrupts our natural sleep cycles with shift-work, jet lag and ubiquitous electric lighting, among other things. New research in mice suggests that the resulting disturbance of nature’s circadian rhythms could have major effects on the body and brain, from a slowing of metabolism to impaired thinking and poor impulse control. More »
2009 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize goes to pioneering geneticist
The 2009 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize recognizes Suzanne Cory, a world-renowned geneticist and pioneering scientific leader. The first woman to serve as director of Australia’s prestigious Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, she has been an influential force in shaping science policy in her nation. More »
Rockefeller postdoc named finalist for Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology
A panel of distinguished scientists and editors have named postdoc Max Heiman a finalist for the Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology. More »
Checkered history of mother and daughter cells explains cell cycle differences
In preparing to divide, mother and daughter cells use different gears and levers to regulate their genes. A collaboration between two geneticists and their labs now reveals that this difference in gene expression ultimately affects the protein CLN3, the levels of which certify whether a cell is ready to commit to another grueling round of cell division. The work sets a new compass point for studying how cell division may go awry in different types of cancer. More »
Tags: cell division, gene expression
Elaine Fuchs to receive 2010 L’Oréal-UNESCO prize for women scientists
Elaine Fuchs — one of five women scientists around the world selected by the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science partnership to receive the 2010 L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards in the Life Sciences — is honored for her contributions to our knowledge of skin biology and skin stem cells. More »
Immunologist Michel Nussenzweig elected to Institute of Medicine
The head of Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Nussenzweig’s considerable contributions to the field of immunology include insights into how autoimmune diseases progress and the development of methods that may lead to dendritic-cell vaccines. Nussenzweig is one of 14 current Rockefeller researchers who are members of the Institute of Medicine. More »
Transgenic songbirds provide new tool to understand the brain
Over the decades, scientists have learned a lot about the basic life processes shared by many animals — including people — by manipulating the DNA of the “lower” species, such as mice and worms. But to date, they have been unable to readily probe the genetic contribution to one higher cognitive capacity of particular interest — the ability to learn language from one another. Now scientists have worked out a method for altering the genes of the zebra finch, one of the handful of social animals that learn to “speak” in a way that is analogous to humans. More »
Tags: Fernando Nottebohm, Songbirds
Obesity researcher wins Keio Medical Science Prize
Jeffery Friedman shares the 14th Keio Medical Science Prize, awarded annually to researchers for outstanding achievements in the fields of life sciences and medicine, for the “discovery of leptin and the study of its physiological functions.” More »
“Promiscuous” protein interactions found in the nuclear pore complex
The NPC is the only way in or out of a cell’s nucleus. It plays a key role in cellular metabolism and signaling, and any malfunction in these pores can have lethal consequences. Now new research reveals further insights into the design of this evolutionarily ancient and little-understood transport machinery. The findings suggest that the nuclear pore complex takes on different formations to carry out its function. More »
Tags: nuclear pore complex
Clinical study to probe genetic link to Salmonella diseases
Unusual symptoms of Salmonella infection in certain children may be caused a genetic mutation, according to researchers at The Rockefeller University Hospital, where a new clinical study is examining the immune profiles of affected children. More »
Tags: Salmonella, SNTS
New Innovator Award goes to cancer researcher Sohail Tavazoie
One of Rockefeller’s newest faculty recruits, Tavazoie aims to identify small pieces of RNA, known as microRNAs, that may signal a high potential for metastasis or that can effectively distinguish between cancers that will be responsive to chemotherapy and those that would be better candidates for alternative and experimental therapies. More »
Rockefeller virologists and MIT tissue engineers receive $5.8 million NIH grant to study hepatitis
Provided through the National Institutes of Health’s inaugural Transformative R01 grant program — a groundbreaking initiative designed to encourage high-risk research — the grant will run for five years and will fund efforts to elucidate the notoriously complex mechanisms underlying hepatitis B and C virus infection. More »
New model suggests how the brain might stay in balance
Physicists have theorized for decades about how neural networks might be able to accomplish the incredibly complex calculations the human brain performs all the time. But simply stabilizing such a powerful organic computer made up of 100 billion neurons and trillions of interconnections is no small matter. A new model proposes that the brain could use about half of its connections just to maintain a delicate balance of excitation and inhibition. And keep from going haywire. More »
Elaine Fuchs receives National Medal of Science
Elaine Fuchs, Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, is being honored “for her pioneering use of cell biology and molecular genetics in mice to understand the basis of inherited diseases in humans and her outstanding contributions to our understanding of the biology of skin and its disorders, including her notable investigations of adult skin stem cells, cancers and genetic syndromes.” More »
Two Rockefeller scientists named finalists for Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
Associate Professor and head of laboratory Shai Shaham and Postdoctoral Fellow Sreekanth H. Chalasani are finalists in the third annual competition administered by the New York Academy of Sciences. More »
Tags: Blavatnik Award, Shai Shaham
To better control Chagas disease, focus funds more efficiently, scientists say
Controlling the bug that causes Chagas disease, a chronic infection of 10 million people worldwide with no available cures or vaccines, is the primary goal of public health officials in the developing world. New research suggests that insecticide spraying should be concentrated during the seasons when bugs disperse over long distances to make the best use of limited resources. More »
Tags: Chagas disease, Joel E. Cohen
New technique allows scientists to penetrate yeast cells’ hard exterior
Injections are a useful tool for cell biologists. They allow researchers to administer proteins and chemicals directly to the inside of a single cell. A new technique, developed at Rockefeller University, makes this possible for the first time in cells that were previously considered too hard to be penetrated by traditional methods. By using a micropipette like a saw and combining it with a small electric motor, scientists have now successfully administered fluorescent proteins to yeast cells. More »
Tags: Cell Biology
Two proteins enable skin cells to regenerate
Skin cells that have lost their luster flake off and are replaced by new ones that push their way up to the surface. In new research that further dissects how stem cells specialize into tissue cells, scientists now show how these new skin cells arise — work that may one day hold promise for burn victims. More »
Tags: regeneration, skin, stem cells
New research supports model for nuclear pore complex
The pores that control what passes in and out of the cell nucleus play a crucial role in the cell’s metabolism and signaling. Defects in structure and function of these gatekeepers, known as nuclear pore complexes, can have lethal consequences. New research reveals secrets about what may be a key design feature of these structures, a flexibility enabling the import and export of large molecules. More »
Tags: nuclear pore complex
