The Rockefeller University

The field of cell biology was born at Rockefeller thanks to Albert Claude, George Palade, and Christian de Duve, who shared the 1974 @nobelprize.org for their discoveries on the structural and functional orga­nization of the cell. #125YearsofRockefeller

This week, Catherine Dulac of @harvardmcb.bsky.social received the 2026 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize! Dulac's work has revealed the neural circuits underlying instinctive behaviors such as mating, parenting, and aggression. Congratulations! 👩‍🔬 🎉 #WomenInScience

Don't miss this piece in @nature.com by @marilenharo.bsky.social on Paul Cohen's latest work, a massive study of more than 100,000 people that found a surprising connection between ‘good’ body fat and improved mental health.

In @natrevgenet.nature.com, Titia de Lange highlights new insights into how telomere attrition guards against cancer, including its role in limiting cell proliferation, the importance of telomere length at birth for lifelong cancer prevention, and more.

Spotted on campus this week: the fastest animal in the world, a peregrine falcon! 🪶 Did you know that New York City is home to one of the largest urban populations of peregrine falcons? Thanks to Alex Kogan for this superb photo!

Rockefeller's Gerald Edelman discovered the chemical structure of antibodies. His research ultimately led to strategies to prevent organ rejection and the use of synthetic antibodies to treat immune-deficient diseases. In 1972 he shared a @nobelprize.org. #125YearsofRockefeller

Findings from Rockefeller's Paul Cohen, along with @weillcornell.bsky.social and @mskcancercenter.bsky.social colleagues, suggest that repurposing losartan may be a clinically viable method of stimulating #brownfat, which has been linked to improved #cardiovascularhealth. 🔗: https://bit.ly/47ZietL

I wrote a review of clonal raider ant biology and why the species is such a good model system to study various fundamental aspects of social insect biology in the lab. Here is the online early version: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

In @science.org: Biology breakthroughs that should have won a Nobel Prize, but didn’t. Included in the list is Rockefeller's Oswald Avery and his discovery that DNA is the chemical carrying genetic information.

Congratulations to Barbara Bosch, a 2026 Blavatnik Regional Awards Laureate! She is recognized for advancing drug discovery for priority pathogens, including #TB, by developing high-throughput methods to identify and screen novel bacterial inhibitors.

Neion Bio is a biotech startup at Rockefeller’s Ford Center Incubator that is looking to turn the most efficient protein-producing machine nature ever designed—chicken eggs—into high-quality protein factories. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4yzAZj9

Rockefeller's C. David Allis revolutionized our understanding of how genes are expressed. His discoveries ushered in the modern era of chromatin biology and epigenetics and laid the foundation for new approaches to treating cancer and other diseases. #125YearsofRockefeller

At the SNF Nostos Conference this summer, Rockefeller scientists discussed how enhanced global access and public participation can help ensure that science best serves the general public. 🔗: https://bit.ly/3VrFvSj

Congratulations to Rockefeller's Trevor van Eeuwen of the Rout lab, a 2026 Blavatnik Awards Regional Laureate!

Rockefeller's @hirofunabiki.bsky.social studies how chromosomes are copied and maintained. In this Q&A, he discusses how this #basicresearch is shedding light on #cancer, rare #immunediseases, and even how our bodies recognize #viruses. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4xF17YV

THREE Rockefeller scientists are being honored by the Blavatnik Awards this year! Trevor van Eeuwen of the #RoutLab and Barbara Bosch of the #CampbellLab have been named 2026 Laureates. Andreas Mueller of the #DarstLab has been named a finalist. Congratulations! 🎉 🔬 🎉

Happy first day of fall from our beautiful campus 🍁 🍂 🍁

We are thrilled to announce that molecular biologist and neuroscientist Catherine Dulac of @harvardmcb.bsky.social is the 2026 winner of Rockefeller's Pearl Meister Greengard Prize! Register now for the award ceremony on Oct 20. #WomenInScience 🔗: https://bit.ly/3V2pZMA

Cysteine is essential for life, but toxic in excess. A new study from Rockefeller's Kivanc Birsoy in @natmetabolism.nature.com reveals why: free cysteine can unleash stored iron, overwhelming mitochondria and triggering a form of cell death. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4iG3UNI

A large clinical trial led by Rockefeller's Nussenzweig lab in @natmed.nature.com reveals how bNAbs work together with antibodies produced by a patient's immune system to keep #HIV in check, results that may inform HIV therapy. https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/40454-hiv-antibody-drug-trial/

Rockefeller's Svetlana Mojsov has been named a Citation Laureate 2026 by @clarivateag.bsky.social! Mojsov is recognized for contributions that were pivotal to the discovery and development of GLP-1-based therapies. #CitationLaureates #CitationLaureates2026

Rockefeller grad student Natalie Alexander of @thefuchslab.bsky.social investigates the connection between #obesity and #inflammation in skin—a focus she crafted by following her curiosity through different labs and scientific disciplines. 🔗: https://bit.ly/3VxJSuW

A recent study from Rockefeller's Vanessa Ruta found that when flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume. @callimcflurry.bsky.social explains in @thetransmitter.bsky.social:

Rockefeller's Paul Cohen is featured in @washingtonpost.com today! @gretchenxreynolds.bsky.social reports on his work suggesting that 3 minutes of intense exercise may have more beneficial impacts on our physiology and health than 90 minutes of more moderate exertion.

In 1964, R. Bruce Merrifield published one of the most cited papers in scientific history, unveiling a method for synthesizing large peptides that later drove transformative advancements in drug development. In 1984, he won the @nobelprize.org in Chemistry. #125YearsofRockefeller

Then and Now: Rockefeller's @junyuecao.bsky.social! Don't miss this article from @thescientist.bsky.social on how Cao's work on the genomics of aging has evolved.

In @natrevgenet.nature.com: Rockefeller's Titia de Lange highlights new insights into how #telomere attrition guards against #cancer, contrary to the popular perception that telomere shortening is harmful.

Rockefeller researcher H. Keffer Hartline relied on the optical system of the horseshoe crab to make @nobelprize.org-winning discoveries about the complex interplay between the eye and the brain—work that inspired another Rockefeller laureate, Torsten Wiesel. #125YearsofRockefeller

Don't miss Rockefeller's Paul Cohen on @npr.org with @wstonereports.bsky.social! He discusses his latest work showing that high-intensity training, like sprinting, provokes a remarkably robust response throughout the bloodstream in a way that moderate exercise does not.

Rockefeller's Jaejin Kim of the Fuchs lab and Bailey Schultz of the Rock lab have been named @damonrunyon.org Fellows! Congratulations 🎉 🔗: https://bit.ly/4cj7Gby

Rockefeller's Birsoy and Vinogradova (@katyavinogradova.bsky.social) labs have teamed up to study how cancer cells rewire their metabolism, and how these changes could be targeted therapeutically. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4zC8oLk

By deciphering the molecular signatures of millions of mouse cells, Rockefeller's @junyuecao.bsky.social has found that aging is not haphazard wear and tear but rather a “remodeling of the cell society.” Learn more in this piece from @quantamagazine.org:

A study from @vivrisca.bsky.social's lab in @lsajournal.org shows how the senescent state induced by #sarcoma and #breastcancer drugs drives #inflammation. The results point to a strategy for tuning therapies to avoid inflammation-promoting side effects. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4wIR5W2

Congratulations to Rockefeller's Krithi Irmady (@splicendice.bsky.social), a 2026 recipient of the Fellows-to-Faculty Award from the @simonsfoundation.org! She investigates how RNA regulation shapes synaptic plasticity and neuronal function. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4yXUjrd

"Sometimes the most esoteric science leads to new clinical or scientific implications that you didn’t see coming." In this Q&A, Robert Darnell tells us how an insight from a rare brain disease took his career in an unexpected direction. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4wtWMXH

Rockefeller's Paul Greengard discovered chemical signaling is the primary way nerve cells communicate in the brain—a paradigm shift that greatly advanced the understanding of neurological and psychiatric disorders and earned him a Nobel Prize in 2000. #125YearsofRockefeller

This 12 year old has mastered 132 bird calls! This explainer goes into the science behind his skill, including work from Rockefeller's @erichjarvis.bsky.social on how songbirds learn to sing.

In @cp-cellrepmed.bsky.social: Paul Cohen's lab at Rockefeller finds that three minutes of sprinting can do something that 90 minutes of moderate exercise cannot: dramatically reshape the molecular contents of the bloodstream. #hearthealth #metabolicdisease #aging 🔗: https://bit.ly/3SuOD7y

A new study from Rockefeller's Joel Cohen finds that the older people get, the less alike their multiple chronic conditions are. The discovery raises questions about clinical recommendations based on a person’s age alone.

A new @pnas.org paper from Elizabeth Campbell and Seth Darst solves a longstanding mystery about how a class of antibiotics works and simultaneously reveals a key structural mechanism behind one of biology's most important enzymes: RNA polymerase. 🔗: https://bit.ly/45jaPV8

In @cellpress.bsky.social: The @erichjarvis.bsky.social lab has produced the first complete genome assembly of a songbird. The study reveals thousands of previously hidden genes and chromosome structures, some of which may explain birds' remarkable vocal learning abilities. 🔗:https://bit.ly/4fUsRSp

#Immunotherapy has proven to be a wonder drug—for some patients, against some cancers. Rockefeller scientists are providing striking new insights into the immune system that could help immunotherapy finally live up to its full potential. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4cfQCTJ

A recent study from Vanessa Ruta's lab at Rockefeller showed that for flies to track smells in turbulent air, it takes a keen sense of direction and sharp memory. @arstechnica.com explains:

Rockefeller's Elizabeth Campbell aims to kill harmful bacteria by shutting down its ability to access its own genes. We spoke to Campbell about watching a pathogen read its own DNA, and what her work means for treating #infectiousdisease. 🔗: https://bit.ly/3Rpl2vW

Michael Young won the 2017 @nobelprize.org for his discovery of how genes control the 24-hour circadian rhythm. His work explains how internal clocks regulate sleep, eating behavior and metabolism. 26 scientists have won Nobel Prizes in our 125 year history. #125YearsofRockefeller

In @cellpress.bsky.social: @sohailtavazoie.bsky.social's lab has discovered that #arginine deficiency interferes with #immunesystem gene expression. Increasing arginine in combination with other therapies could be used to help treat both #cancer and #viralinfections. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4pSQQ9g

In @natcomms.nature.com: A new paper from @junyuecao.bsky.social finds that a conserved EMT-linked axis organizes convergence across tumor lineages, revealing that cancer cell identity is shaped not only by tissue of origin but also by recurrent regulatory states.

This #WorldHepatitisDay, we recognize the power of scientific discovery to change lives. Rockefeller's Charles Rice was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that led to the identification and control of the hepatitis C virus.

Congrats to Rockefeller's @tomaskay.bsky.social of @danielkronauer.bsky.social's lab, who has been named a 2026 Branco Weiss Fellow! Tomas investigates how cooperation and competition shape the evolution of animal societies, aiming to identify the traits that determine evolutionary success.

In this podcast from the American Philosophical Society, Rockefeller's Joel Cohen discusses trends in humanity's growing population, as well as predictions on topics like economic equality, immigration, and family dynamics.