-
Fighting Cancer
Altitude Training for Cancer-Fighting Cells
Science Tips
Mountain climbers and endurance athletes are not the only ones to benefit from altitude training – that is, learning to perform well under low-oxygen conditions. It turns out that cancer-fighting cells of the immune system can also improve their performance through a cellular version of such a regimen. In a study published in Cell Reports, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have shown that the immune system’s killer T cells destroy cancerous tumors much more effectively after being starved for oxygen.
September 2017
-
Exploring the Physical World
Genomic Recycling: Ancestral Genes Take On New Roles
Science Tips
Humans and fish share about 70% of their protein-coding genes, but only about 0.5% of their regulatory long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)
One often hears about the multitude of genes we have in common with chimps or other living creatures, but such comparisons are sometimes misleading. “Humans and fish, for instance, share about 70% of their protein-coding genes, but only about 0.5% of an important class of regulatory genes – ones that give rise to so-called long non-coding RNAs, or lncRNAs,” says Dr. Igor Ulitsky of the Department of Biological Regulation at the Weizmann Institute of Science.September 2017
-
Advancing Technology
Colder and Colder
Science Tips
When investigating atoms, scientists face a challenge: at room temperature, individual atoms in a gas have kinetic energy, and fly around at high velocities. Temperature is, in essence, the relative movement between atoms; thus, the goal of getting the atoms to have small relative velocities involves freezing them to extremely cold temperatures. Now, a group at the Weizmann Institute of Science has developed a new universal method for cooling ions.
September 2017
-
Fighting Cancer
How Bacteria Hinder Chemotherapy
To the list of reasons that chemotherapy sometimes does not work, we can now add one more: bacteria. In a study just published in Science, researchers describe their findings showing that certain bacteria can be found inside human pancreatic tumors. The findings further revealed that some of these bacteria contain an enzyme that inactivates a common drug used to treat various cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Working with mouse models of cancer, the scientists demonstrated how treatment with antibiotics on top of chemotherapy may be significantly superior to treatment with chemotherapy alone.
September 14, 2017
-
Protecting Our Planet
This Cotton Is Grown To Glow
Forbes
Weizmann Institute scientists have found a way to give color to cotton. Forbes says that “it could be the biggest advance in cotton technology since Eli Whitney’s gin.”
September 14, 2017
-
Enriching Education
Attracting Women to Science
LI Herald
Long Island student Tzippora Chwat was one of just 19 American students selected to take part in the Weizmann Institute’s Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute, during which she traveled to Israel to conduct hands-on research.
September 14, 2017
-
Improving Health & Medicine
“Lady Globes” Woman of the Year: Prof. Michal Schwartz
Globes
Selecting the Woman of the Year is never easy; it amounts to a statement of values, meaning, and priorities. The selection is based on a single overriding value: excellence. Schwartz, who does her research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, is likely to dramatically change the course of medicine. After years of research, she discovered a mechanism for treating degenerative brain diseases that runs counter to the accepted scientific axioms. Schwartz's scientific breakthrough makes it possible to begin developing drugs for a disease regarded as the 21st century's biggest medical threat. Her research solution has far-reaching consequences.
September 13, 2017
-
Improving Health & Medicine
Human Cell Atlas Hopes to Unravel Mysteries Hidden in Our Genes
Horizon Magazine
A major international project is attempting to create the first comprehensive three-dimensional map of all human cells which could end up revealing secrets about our health and how our bodies function. It is nearly 350 years since scientists first discovered that our bodies are made up of tiny building blocks known as cells. Today we still know very little about their nature, but if we did, we could better understand how our bodies work, how diseases afflict us and how we age. A global project called Human Cell Atlas is now attempting to create the first comprehensive three-dimensional map of the human body in order to unravel some of these mysteries.
September 06, 2017
-
Improving Health & Medicine
World Alzheimer’s Month: How is Weizmann Helping?
E-News
September is World Alzheimer’s Month – a fact that highlights the disease’s unfortunate status as a major, ongoing, global health crisis. There are many intersecting reasons that Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise; ironically, most of them are also advances, such as better healthcare, prevention, nutrition, safety, and the like, all of which lead to increased longevity. And while Alzheimer’s is a disease of the aging brain, there is also a significant genetic component to this devastating illness. As of now, despite many years and many billions of dollars, there is no truly effective treatment, much less a cure.
September 2017