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Oliver Sacks, Awakenings Author, Receives Rockefeller University's Lewis Thomas Prize

Best-selling writer is honored for his literary contributions to science Oliver Sacks, author of the best-selling book Awakenings, which was the basis for a movie of the same name starring Robin Williams and Robert de Niro, received The Rockefeller University's 2001 Lewis Thomas Prize on Monday,...

Schizophrenia Predisposition Linked to Two Genes on Chromosome 22

In a systematic study of 13 genes on human chromosome 22 in an area of the chromosome previously linked to schizophrenia, a team of scientists in the United States and South Africa identified two genes from this group that contribute to susceptibility to this psychiatric disorder. The report, pub...

Mouse Model of Diabetes Shows Synergy of Multiple Genes in Failure of Insulin-Secreting Cells

Potential Drug Target for Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Identified Researchers at The Rockefeller University and the Vanderbilt Medical Center have shown for the first time in a mouse model that genes predisposing for Type 2 diabetes interact in a hierarchical manner and have identified a potenti...

Researchers Pinpoint How Estrogen Prevents Alzheimer's "Senile Plaques"

Evidence that the speed of a pathway changes the metabolic fate of a protein Estrogen prevents the build-up of Alzheimer's disease's "senile plaques" in the brain by scooting key proteins through their normal pathways before they can form the debilitating plaques. This finding, by scientists in ...

Rockefeller University Appoints Thomas P. Sakmar Acting President

NEW YORK, NY — The Board of Trustees of The Rockefeller University today named Thomas P. Sakmar, M.D., to serve as acting president of the university. Sakmar replaces Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., who announced his intention to resign yesterday. A biochemist and physician whose research contributions ...

"Sugar-Coating" on Proteins May Safeguard Body Against Further Insult

M.D.-Ph.D. student shows mannose receptor performs clearance role Much like a cadre of emergency workers at the scene of an accident, the body's immune system cells gather at the site of an injury, whether it is a simple cut or an infection. This microscopic crowd largely consists of inflammatory...

Superbug Update: Only a few families of Staphylococci cause most drug-resistant diseases in hospitals worldwide

Targeting what makes these pervasive families unique may lead to new methods to combat them The culprits behind antibiotic-resistant diseases now plaguing hospitals worldwide have been harboring a secret -- one that Rockefeller scientists have recently exposed. It seems these infectious microbes ...

More Studies Shed Light on How Prozac Works

Nobel laureate Paul Greengard, Ph.D., and other Rockefeller University scientists have illuminated, in laboratory mice, new details of the complex chemical interaction in the brain that is generated by Prozac, the widely prescribed drug for depression. Their findings are reported in a pair of pap...

Cells on the Verge of Suicide

Rockefeller Scientist discovers molecular messengers that rescue cells from death A developing cell in the human body sits on the edge of death. Proteins called Grim, Reaper and Hid stand poised, ready to unleash other toxic proteins. Only if a protein messenger from another cell arrives in time ...

Tidying Up Transcription Factors

Researchers reclassify key protein players of the cell Fifty years ago, in the early days of biology, so little was known about the cell that all of the proteins outside of its nucleus were grouped into one big "cytoplasmic soup." Now, as the list of known cellular ingredients continues to expand...