Even before we have the quantum computers of tomorrow, we may have their successor: biological computers. Prof. Ehud Shapiro has created one that's so small that a trillion can fit in a single drop of water, and which has diagnosed cancer in a test tube. Someday the computer could circulate through the human body, diagnosing and treating disease.
Watch highlights from the 2009 Gala of the American Committee's Midwest Region. Held in Chicago and honoring Jerry Reinsdorf, an owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, and Rocky Wirtz, an owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, the evening included speeches, a Q&A with the honorees, live music, dancing, and an auction.
Weizmann science is truly ""in service to the world,"" helping a ""bubble boy"" in Germany, a farmer in Kenya, a childless family in Canada, and more: from medicines to ease MS symptoms to a way to produce the nutrient beta-carotene from algae to science therapy programs for kids, Weizmann research helps people – including scientists – to live their dreams.
A whimsical look at Weizmann ""news"" shows how Institute advances have also advanced the state of Israel. From creating Israel's first computer to establishing a technology transfer company, particle accelerators, alternative energy, and frontline MS drugs, the Institute is part and parcel of the land of milk and honey – and science.
""Crash"" describes construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator near Geneva, where Weizmann scientists are part of a global team seeking to find the Higgs boson and prove the Standard Model of physics. When speeding particles collide in the LHC, they very briefly mimic the conditions that existed right after the Big Bang.
Young stem cells, like young people, have unlimited options before them. They can become anything – businessperson, farmer, heart cell, skin cell. But then instructions kick in, and the young stem cell helps create the part of the body it is fated to become. However, scientists may be able to use the early potential of stem cells to treat a number of diseases.
In this moving video, four Weizmann scientists encounter people who could benefit from their research, whether it's solving the mystery of invisible dark matter, understanding the molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease, developing a novel treatment for spinal cord injuries, or investigating pediatric cancer.
Actor and activist Christopher Reeve, who became a quadriplegic after a horse-riding accident, was a supporter of the Institute's research on stem cells and on treating spinal cord injuries. This brief, touching video memorial is a poignant excerpt from a talk he gave during a visit to campus, in which he calls the Institute ""a symbol of the best in research.""
Find out what drew three longtime philanthropists – Laura Gurwin Flug, Ellen Merlo, and Pierre L. Schoenheimer – to support the Weizmann Institute of Science, and what keeps them committed to and excited about Weizmann research.
©2019 American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
