The lab of Prof. Alon Chen has found that, besides our classic stress response – an acute reaction that gradually abates when the threat passes – we appear to have a separate mechanism that deals only with chronic stress. The team found a new mechanism that apparently regulates the stress response. These findings may lead to better diagnosis of and treatment for anxiety and depression.
February 2017
How were the Earth's solid deposits of iron ore created? While researching possible conditions on Mars, Dr. Itay Halevy discovered “green rust“ - rare today, but apparently common billions of years ago. While this would have been just one of several means of iron deposition, green rust seems to have delivered a large proportion of iron to our early ocean.
January 2017
Malaria is still a global scourge, killing mostly children in tropical regions. Developing an inexpensive vaccine that can stay stable without refrigeration has so far eluded scientists. Now, Dr. Sarel Fleishman's lab has reprogrammed proteins in such a way that they could lead to a new and effective vaccine.
January 26, 2017
How do white blood cells - the immune cells that race to the sites of infection and inflammation - actually get to their targets? The research of Prof. Ronen Alon has revealed that the white blood cells actually force their way through the blood vessel walls to reach the infection, creating large holes. This understanding could aid in cancer research.
For the first time, viruses have been found to communicate with one another, leaving short “posts” for kin and descendants. The messages help the viruses reading them to decide how to proceed with the process of infection.
Bats - and humans - can find their favorite fruit stand (or coffee shop) even when it's hidden behind a screen or buildings. How? Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky and team have now identified the neurons that point bats in the right direction, even when their destination is obscured. This could shed light on Alzheimer's and other disorders.
While the predominant theory for the Moon's existence was a single, massive impact with Earth, our satellite's origins were still mysterious. Now, complex computer simulations by Prof. Oded Aharonson show that the more likely explanation is multiple impacts of varying sizes that produced many moonlets; over time, these joined to form the Moon we know today.|
January 09, 2017
On June 14, 2015, astrophysicists around the world noted an extraordinarily bright flash of light that, puzzlingly, did not fit any of the usual explanations. Prof. Avishay Gal-Yam's lab has now solved the mystery: it was the destruction of a star by the gravitational tides of a black hole at the center of its galaxy. This event is extremely rare, as a number of physics conditions must be satisfied.
December 15, 2016
Two new and powerful research methods – CRISPR gene editing and single-cell genomic profiling – have now been combined to produce a tool fine enough to enable scientists to observe life's most nuanced processes. Prof. Ido Amit and his lab have so refined CRISPR that scientists can understand biological processes in shades of grey – not just black and white.
December 15, 2016
