The Weizmann Institute, its commercial arm Yeda, and pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc., have announced that a Pfizer medical chemist, rotating yearly, will work alongside Institute scientists at the Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, aiding in identification of new drug targets. Together, the partners hope to develop important new medicines.
June 06, 2016
Prof. Alon Chen's lab discovered that a receptor, CRFR1, plays a surprising role in the body's stress response. In mice without CRFR1, females had trouble regulating temperature and blood sugar, while males were barely affected. The results could help develop treatments for regulating hunger or stress responses, including anxiety and depression.
May 26, 2016
The powerhouse institutions will collaborate on higher education and research, promoting intellectual exchange between Israel and France. Laser-plasma accelerator expert Prof. Victor Malka, affiliated with both places, is encouraging the partnership. It will help expand laser research, which contributes to advances ranging from detecting breast cancers to imaging airplane parts.
May 26, 2016
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science today launched Project-Based Fundraising, a digital platform that enables donors to support one of 12 vital Weizmann research projects in an area they find meaningful. By harnessing the power of crowdfunding, Project-based Fundraising aims to increase philanthropic support for science, advance science literacy for all, and raise awareness of the urgency for research to help solve humanity's greatest challenges.
April 05, 2016
Dr. Gad Asher and colleagues found that mitochondria (which give cells power) are regulated by the body's circadian clocks; in fact, mice who ate only when active had 50% lower liver lipids. The findings help explain why people who eat out of phase with their circadian clocks are more likely to develop obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
March 16, 2016
Dr. Ofer Yizhar is a pioneer in optogenetics, which employs light to manipulate the living brain. He is using it to study long-range communication across the brain, and since mental and neurological diseases may result from changes in such extended connectivity, his work could result in better understanding of mental illness – and better treatments.
March 16, 2016
Many years ago, Prof. Michael Sela and colleagues found that antibodies inhibiting EGFR, a receptor that plays a role in cancer, have a synergistic anti-cancer effect when used with chemotherapy. That discovery has now led to three cancer-treating drugs: Erbitux®, Vectibix®, and, most recently, Portrazza™, just FDA approved for a form of lung cancer.
March 16, 2016
The world's corals are dying, with tremendous effects on climate and ocean health – however, much about coral, and why it dies, is still unknown. Now, Dr. Assaf Vardi and his team have created a new experimental platform – a ""coral on a chip"" – that lets them grow coral in the lab to study the structures' complicated lives at microscale resolution.
March 16, 2016
A class of 9th-grade girls beat over 400 other classes to win this year's Ilan Ramon Space Olympics. The team's winning project – which earned a telescope for their school – was a satellite that would scatter tiny labs on an asteroid. South Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon encouraged the Olympians to treasure the opportunities the contest offered them.
March 07, 2016
