Prof. Chaim Weizmann in 1949. Credit: Hugo Mendelson via Government Press Office

Although Prof. Chaim Weizmann is well-known as the first president of the State of Israel, his life as a scientist may be even more significant to the country’s founding.

During World War I, Prof. Weizmann, a chemist then living in Britain – where his wife, Vera, served as a doctor – invented a method of industrial fermentation which produced large quantities of acetone. Crucial to the British war effort, his invention has been credited with helping the Allies win. During this time he also became friends with Lord Arthur Balfour, helping persuade him to write his famous Declaration. Today, however, the renowned scientific institution that bears his name may be Prof. Weizmann’s greatest legacy.

The Weizmann Institute of Science is dedicated to creativity, collaboration, and curiosity, with scientists pursuing basic research in six main areas: cancer, health and medicine, the environment, technology, education, and the physical world, which includes fields such as physics, astrophysics, archaeology, hydrology, and geology.

Discoveries made by Weizmann Institute scientists have led to medicines, inventions, and technologies that improve the quality of life for people everywhere, truly reflecting the motto of “science for the benefit of humanity.” Just a few recent awe-inspiring breakthroughs include:

• Two Weizmann-based discoveries – immunotherapy and Tookad® – in late-stage clinical trials in the U.S. are having extremely high cancer-treatment success rates.
• Developing hybrid crops that produce more protein and require less water, thus helping ensure food security and fighting world hunger.
• Creating a flu vaccine that could last for a decade and may be able destroy most of, if not all, strains of influenza.
• Devising a test – which requires only sniffing – to predict autism in babies with over 80 percent accuracy, enabling crucial early diagnosis and intervention.
• Revealing that each person’s microbiome affects their metabolism in unique ways, leading to a method of creating tailor-made nutrition plans.
• Turning adult cells back into “blank slate” stem cells with a 100 percent success rate in less than one week – a revolutionary development that could change the way we treat disease.
• Regenerating heart tissue for patients with damage from heart attacks; this is crucial, as the heart, unlike other organs, is unable to repair itself.
• Discovering the structure and function of the ribosome, which inspired research into new superbug-fighting antibiotics and, in 2009, made Prof. Ada Yonath the first Israeli woman (and only the fourth woman in history) to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• Using novel techniques, ranging from algae to solar, to create alternative energy and move the world away from fossil fuels.
• Locating the elusive Higgs boson as part of the international team at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Leaders of the Higgs project from the beginning, Weizmann physicists are today helping manage the massive search for dark matter.
• Bringing joy to the lives of families with a method, “uterine-biopsy,” that is helping previously infertile couples have children.

Prof. Daniel Zajfman, President of the Weizmann Institute, credits these successes to finding the most talented young scientists – and then giving them the freedom to pursue their research as they wish. Basic research is not about creating a specific product – but the creativity and openness of “the Weizmann way” clearly results in health-changing, life-changing, world-changing breakthroughs.

Collaboration is also key; in fact, the Weizmann campus is structured so as to promote informal meetings that often lead to some of the most innovative research. For example, the prostate-cancer therapy Tookad, which is currently in late-stage clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan (and was recently approved by Mexico’s health authority, and is close to being released on the European and Israeli markets), began 30 years ago with a casual conversation between a plant scientist and a biologist in a campus café.

Beyond research, however, the Weizmann Institute is rooted in a tradition of sharing knowledge and creating a science-literate citizenry. Its highly competitive Feinberg Graduate School, where all classes are taught in English, attracts applicants from all over the world for its doctoral and master’s programs. And through its education arm, the Davidson Institute of Science Education, Weizmann provides after-school science programs for kids with abilities ranging from gifted to struggling, along with teacher training and development. These efforts move beyond Israel: for example, the International Safecracking Tournament challenges high schoolers from across the globe to use the principles of physics to build a safe; all teams then come to campus to try to break into each other’s creations.

Whether it’s inspiring the scientists of tomorrow, keeping us healthy, protecting our planet, or literally reaching for the stars, the Weizmann Institute of Science and its dedicated researchers have truly changed our world … one discovery at a time.