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Three Rockefeller scientists elected AAAS fellows

Three Rockefeller University scientists have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. The election of Arleen Auerbach, Cori Bargmann and Nathaniel Heintz was announced in the AAAS News and Notes section...

In mice, a new statistical analysis shows a sex hormone influences a drive to explore

Exhaustive searching may not guarantee a compatible mate, but that doesn’t stop most people from trying. Now, new research from Rockefeller University suggests that estrogens may be a driving force. Research in mice, led by George Reeke and Donald Pfaff, has shown that this family of sex hormones...

Dendritic cells stimulate cancer-cell growth

Since their discovery at Rockefeller University some 30 years ago, dendritic cells have been recognized as key players on the immune-system team, presenting antigens to other immune cells to help them respond to novel insults. Now, Rockefeller scientists have shown that dendritic cells also have ...

New gene-slicing method targets specific areas of the brain

To understand the role any one gene plays in an organism, scientists rely on knockout mice: They breed a mouse that lacks the gene they are interested in, then observe the effects. It doesn’t always work. Removing a gene from an entire mouse can create many problems, including killing the mouse b...

New look at world's forests shows many are expanding

For years, environmentalists have been raising the alarm about deforestation. But even as forests continue to shrink in some nations, others grow — and new research suggests the planet may now be nearing the transition to a greater sum of forests. A new formula to measure forest cover, developed ...

Living cells prosper without telomeres

In most cells, telomeres are a critical protection against death: If these caps at the ends of chromosomes fail, the cell’s life is cut short. But what’s true for most cells isn’t true for all cells, and a surprising new finding from Rockefeller University, recently published in Genes and Dev...

American Chemical Society to recognize breakthrough 1963 chemistry discovery

A discovery by a Rockefeller University chemist that enabled the rapid synthesis of peptides and proteins — and garnered a Nobel Prize in 1984 — will be honored Monday by the American Chemical Society. The presentation of the Citation for Chemical Breakthroughs will be part of a daylong scientif...

RNA map gives first comprehensive understanding of alternative splicing

It’s biology's version of the director’s cut. In much the same way that numerous films could be stitched together from a single reel of raw footage, a molecular process called alternative splicing enables a single gene to produce multiple proteins. Now a new RNA map, created by a team of researc...

Chronic stress effects attention by altering neuronal response in the brain

Anxiety and depression can make a person feel as if he’s battling his own brain, complete with wounds and scars. Traumatic events — war, divorce, the death of a loved one — can trigger these disorders, and scientists are just beginning to clarify the biological connection. Now, working neuron ...

Starr Foundation to give Rockefeller $50 million to support collaborations

A $50 million gift from the Starr Foundation, announced this week, will be used to create the Starr Fund for Collaborative Science at The Rockefeller University. The fund will promote and enhance scientific exchange and shared knowledge, the key objectives of President Paul Nurse’s strategic visi...