Nature reports on the importance of organelles: cellular workhorses that are turning out to play a greater role in biology than many imagined. Research by the leading organelle researchers – including Weizmann’s Prof. Maya Schuldiner – is discussed.
March 11, 2019
China’s Xinhua news agency reports that Weizmann “researchers have revealed the multilayered structure of the exoskeleton that covers the scorpions' pincers, which can lead to the creation of new synthetic materials.” Having existed for more than 400 million years, scorpions have evolved very sophisticated, multipurpose pincers.
March 11, 2019
Lymphoid organs in the small intestines. Red: B cells aggregated in the “training centers.” Green: cells with the ability to secrete effective antibodies exiting the centers for the intestinal tissue
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 4, 2019—Only a few vaccines – for example, polio and rotavirus – can be given orally. Most must be delivered by injection. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers suggest this may be, in part, because the “training program” of the immune cells in the gut takes place under harsh conditions. Using a novel imaging method that captures all of the immune cells’ niches within a single organ, Dr. Ziv Shulman and research student Adi Biram investigated the training process for the gut-based cells involved in long-term immunity. Their findings, published in Nature Immunology, provide new insights that may, in the future, lead to the design of more effective oral vaccines.
March 04, 2019
The New York Times Sunday Review’s cover story was about Profs. Eran Elinav and Eran Segal and their algorithm-based method of analyzing the gut microbiome to create a custom diet. Author and cardiologist Eric Topol, who was tested by the scientists, discusses what AI means for nutrition.
March 02, 2019
In the second episode of Weizmann in Focus, CEO Dave Doneson discusses how the Institute’s plant scientists are tackling the challenge of global food security. These innovative researchers are figuring out how plants can better resist drought, provide higher-quality nutrition, and more. Dave spotlights a breakthrough by Prof. Jonathan Gressel, who discovered a method of killing a parasitic weed that was destroying corn crops in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal reports on a new finding from Prof. Ron Milo and team, who have revealed that rubisco, the most abundant protein on Earth, is even more abundant than expected. This is important because rubisco fixes carbon, thus playing a role in climate change.
February 25, 2019
“The techniques coming out of AI — and, more broadly, machine learning — are becoming important in almost all disciplines,” Ullman said. “They can really help scientists deal with huge sets of data in chemistry, in physics and in biology. This will also be very helpful for Israel’s high-tech industry.”
February 25, 2019
Israel21C reports on Kadimastem, a company that is developing a stem-cell-based method for producing insulin. The technique, developed by Weizmann’s Prof. Michel Revel (Kadimastem co-founder), could make needles a thing of the past for diabetics.
February 24, 2019
Phys.org reports on the research of Dr. Ofer Feinerman, who studies the collective behavior of ants to understand collective problem-solving.
February 20, 2019
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