The Rockefeller University

10/16/2026

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!

10/15/2026

By the 1950s, scientists knew that antibodies were responsible for recognizing and neutralizing foreign invaders, but understood little about how they actually worked. Enormous, irregular molecules, antibodies were notoriously difficult to analyze. Amidst this confusion, Gerald Edelman set out to uncover their chemical structures.

Edelman arrived at The Rockefeller University in 1957, after serving as a physician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Paris, where he became fascinated by how little was known about immunity. In his Rockefeller lab, Edelman approached antibodies using the tools of chemistry and physics rather than classical biology, and reasoned that antibodies might consist of multiple linked protein chains. Following this theory, he used chemical agents to break the molecule apart at its disulfide bonds, proving that antibodies were built from separate heavy and light amino acid chains rather than a single giant protein, helping to reveal the molecule's now-famous Y-shaped structure.

Over years of painstaking work at Rockefeller, Edelman went on to map the complete amino acid sequence of an entire antibody molecule—the largest protein ever fully sequenced at that time. His findings showed that an antibody's ability to recognize a target was determined by its internal chemical structure, providing crucial evidence for the modern understanding of how immunity works and helping lay the scientific foundation for modern antibody-based medicine.

Edelman's research helped launch the field of molecular immunology, and paved the way for monoclonal antibody therapies, organ transplant compatibility testing, modern diagnostic assays, and many of today's targeted cancer and autoimmune treatments. In 1972, Edelman shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the chemical structure of antibodies. Not one to rest on his laurels, Edelman would later turn his attention to embryology and neuroscience, pioneering research on cell adhesion molecules and developing his influential theory of "Neural Darwinism" in the quest to understand consciousness itself.

10/14/2026

Findings from Rockefeller's Paul Cohen suggest that repurposing losartan—a commonly prescribed blood-pressure drug—may be a clinically viable method of stimulating , which has been linked to improved health and, reported for the first time in this study, health.

The Cohen lab, along with colleagues at Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, initially discovered the connection between brown fat and the drug class to which losartan belongs, known as angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), through an analysis of over 100,000 patients using next-generation analytical tools.

Previous work had suggested a link between brown fat and reduced prevalence of cardiovascular disease. In this work, the team now demonstrates that in addition to the having brown fat or not, a higher degree of brown fat activity is connected to enhanced cardiometabolic benefits.

They also explored these associations across the body’s six brown fat depots, with increased activity in the armpit (axillary) depot being most strongly tied to cardiometabolic health. They uncovered some new connections as well, including a lower incidence of anxiety and depression in patients with the presence of brown fat.

🔗: https://bit.ly/47ZietL

10/12/2026

Register now for the 2026 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize ceremony, happening next Tuesday on October 20!

Catherine Dulac, a professor at Harvard University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, will be recognized for her groundbreaking research on the neurobiology of social behavior, which has led to fundamental discoveries in mouse models that resonate with our understanding of human emotions and interpersonal interactions.

She will be presented with the award by by Paula Zahn, a ten-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, television anchor, and executive producer.

PEARL MEISTER GREENGARD PRIZE An International Award Recognizing Outstanding Women in Biomedical Research TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2026 5:45 – 6:30 PM Reception 6:30 – 7:30 PM Ceremony and Lecture Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall The Rockefeller University 1230 York Avenue at East 66th Street New York,...

10/08/2026

Science recounts 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:

"Scientists had long known genetic information is stored in chromosomes—bundles of DNA, a little RNA, and a horde of proteins. Many scientists had their money on proteins, not DNA, as the carrier of hereditary information.

"Avery, a microbiologist, studied the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae hoping to find a treatment for pneumonia. Previous research had shown virulent bacteria could confer their traits onto nonvirulent ones through the passage of some 'transforming' material, and Avery wanted to know what it was.

"With Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City, he refined a method to study these transformations in vitro. The group treated bacterial extracts to destroy the DNA, RNA, or protein, then dosed other bacteria with the extracts to see whether transformation was still possible. In a paper published in 1944, they showed the transforming material was bacterial DNA."

Major discoveries, including the role of DNA, the biological basis of psychology, and the human genome, missed out on science’s top recognition

10/07/2026

Barbara Bosch is a 2026 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists Laureate!

She was recognized for advancing mechanism-guided drug discovery for priority pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, by developing high-throughput methods to identify and screen novel bacterial inhibitors.

Bosch was a student in the Rock lab, a postdoc in the Campbell lab, and was the 2025-2026 Chief Scholar in the Clinical Scholars program at Rockefeller. She is currently a Senior Resident in Clinical Pathology at KU Leuven in Belgium.

Congratulations, Barbara!

Barbara Bosch, MD, PhD, was nominated by The Rockefeller University...

10/06/2026

Neion bio is a biotech startup looking to optimize pharmaceutical manufacturing in order to match the speed of digital discovery tools. Their goal is turn the most efficient protein-producing machine nature ever designed—chicken eggs—into high-quality protein factories.

Finding a location in NYC that could house a team of scientists and extensive laboratory equipment, along with the kind of specialized animal operations at the scale they required seemed like an insurmountable task. Then they found Rockefeller’s Ford Center Incubator.

The incubator, which opened its doors in March 2024, had a lot to offer: 8,000 square feet of workspace tailored for early-stage life science companies; 50 desks for up to 15 companies at a time; shared lab benches and core equipment, including cryogenic storage, flow cytometry, and a vivarium; and business services, guided by Director Carlo Yuvienco.

🔗: https://bit.ly/4yzAZj9

10/05/2026

By the 1980s, scientists knew that DNA was packaged around proteins called histones, but many viewed these proteins as nothing more than spools for organizing DNA in the cell's nucleus. Others had suggested that gene activity might depend upon chemical modifications to these proteins, but the evidence for this theory was scant. No one had identified any enzymes that might be responsible for these chemical modifications or shown how that could regulate genes.

Rockefeller’s C. David Allis set out to fill in those gaps. In doing so, his research would transform an entire field of biology.

Working with an unlikely model organism—a pond-dwelling single-celled microbe called Tetrahymena—Allis developed new biochemical approaches to track down the proteins that modify histones. In 1996, he and graduate student Jim Brownell
identified the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) that modifies histones and impacts gene expression.

Allis went on to help formulate the histone code hypothesis, which proposed that chemical marks on histones form a sort of regulatory language that can determine gene activity. Later, his Rockefeller lab helped explain how cancer-associated mutations in histones—which he termed "oncohistones"—can hijack normal gene regulation in pediatric tumors. His discoveries helped establish the foundations for epigenetic approaches to cancer research and therapy.

Allis was recognized with some of the highest accolades in science and medicine, including a Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2015 for his pioneering discovery of covalent modifications of histone proteins and their role in gene expression, followed by a Lasker Award in 2018.

Allis, who passed away from cancer at the age of 71 in 2023, is remembered as a pioneer of chromatin biology. But he is also remembered for his generosity, known for often repeating a motto that captures both his science and his humanity: "Every amino acid matters, but the people matter more.

10/02/2026

This summer, Rockefeller scientists joined a panel of experts in Athens, Greece to address a question that begins in the laboratory but extends far beyond: what would it look like to build a science ecosystem not just for discovery, but for the widest public benefit?

This conversation was part of SNF Nostos 2026, a weeklong gathering hosted by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

The offering curated by Rockefeller was entitled “Reimagining science: An immersive journey of discovery, equity, and public purpose.” The panel was moderated by Alicia Johnson, a postdoctoral associate at Rice University, and featured Rita Allen Foundation president and CEO Elizabeth Christopherson along with Rockefeller's Charles M. Rice, Barry Coller, and Jeanne Garbarino.

Together, the scientists traced the path from discovery to medicine and beyond, focusing on what happens after an innovation leaves the laboratory and how to maximize its benefit.

Watch the full conversation below and learn more here: https://bit.ly/3VrFvSj

What could it look like to build a science ecosystem designed not only for discovery, but for humanity itself? Through story, dynamic visuals, and guided reflection, we explore how breakthroughs, clinical care, education, and civic engagement can move together to create a more equitable future. Part...

10/01/2026

This The New York Times story recalls a time when scientists warned that a new technology might wipe out humanity. Its creators sounded the alarm; others cautioned that slowing down would result in losing the race to innovate. Sound familiar?

It was 1975 when 150 people assembled at the Asilomar Conference to address the dangers of recombinant DNA, a discovery then only a few years old. Scientists for the first time could combine bits of DNA from different organisms, creating new hybrids that could potentially cure diseases, but that might also unleash virulent new ones.

Rockefeller's Norton Zinder was among the scientists and lawyers who gathered to develop a set of guidelines for the safe use of recombinant DNA technology.

Zinder (pictured below) was a geneticist and microbiologist whose research on the genetics of bacteria and on the properties of bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—provided seminal information on the mechanisms of heredity.

In addition to his research on molecular genetics, Dr. Zinder was an advocate for the responsibilities of scientists. He was one of the original members of the Committee on Recombinant DNA Molecules of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, among other roles.

In this case, scientists did pause and come together to self-regulate how they could safely proceed. The rules that they created did not shut down innovation. Instead, they created the biotechnology industry as we know it.

The New York Times asks: Could A.I. follow the same model?

A half-century ago, scientists and lawyers agreed to strict self-regulation in DNA research to avoid catastrophe. Can A.I. follow the same model?