When Elena Meirzadeh immigrated to Israel from Iran with her family at the age of 12, her priorities were perfecting her Hebrew and acclimating to life in a new country. Despite the language barrier and culture shock at moving from the Islamic Republic to the Jewish state, Meirzadeh excelled at her studies and decided she wanted to become a scientist.
February 09, 2018
Prof. Karina Yaniv was first in the world to grow lymph cells in the lab, and is working to develop clinical treatments for conditions such as lymphedema.
From ancient paper to luxurious clothing and parachutes, humans have been capitalising on the extreme strength, lightness and softness of silk for thousands of years.
January 2018
Weizmann Institute research by Prof. Zelig Eshhar laid the foundation for this lifesaving cancer therapy.
January 2018
Planting the “right kinds” of forests extensively in areas that have mostly been neglected in forestation efforts − semi-arid regions in Africa and Australia − could have a measurably positive influence on the climate and help offset a significant portion of human-induced global warming. This was discovered recently by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers led by Prof. Dan Yakir of the earth and planetary sciences department who used an Israeli forest as a model. The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
January 31, 2018
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science announced that Jill Moskowitz had joined the organization as Executive Director, Washington, D.C. and Mid-Atlantic Region.
January 30, 2018
Until a decade ago, scientists were not aware that bacteria had complex immune systems – ones that could keep up with the pace of evolution in viruses called phages that infect bacteria. That changed with the discovery of what is now the most famous bacterial immune mechanism: CRISPR. Scientists realized that CRISPR is a natural gene editor, and it has revolutionized the world of biological research in thousands of labs around the world. Researchers now understand that most microorganisms have sophisticated immune systems, of which CRISPR is just one element, but there has been no good way to identify these systems.
January 25, 2018
Bacteria have been defending themselves from phages—viruses that attack bacterial cells—for billions of years, and unlocking the immune mechanisms they use to protect themselves has led to the development of powerful molecular biology tools such as restriction enzymes and CRISPR-Cas9. Now, researchers report in Science today (January 25) that they have discovered 10 more immune systems that bacteria use to protect themselves against phages and plasmids, opening up the possibility to add new tools to the molecular biology toolbox.
January 25, 2018
The Weizmann scientists and two colleagues were honored for advances in modern cryptography
January 16, 2018
