About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/safer-chemo-thanks-to-israeli-math/
Oct 10, 2012...
Not all white blood cells are created equal. Image via www.shutterstock.com
Waning white blood-cell counts in chemotherapy patients are commonly taken as a warning of an increased risk of infection.
Now, a new Israeli study suggests that it is critical to evaluate not only the quantity of these “neutrophil” blood cells essential to immunity against infection, but also their quality, which varies from one patient to another.
Oct 19, 2016...
An Israeli startup is taking aim at a mega global health crisis: overuse of antibiotic drugs.
Haifa-based MeMed, founded in 2009, has won tens of millions in investments and prizes to advance two initial products: ImmunoXpert, now used by hospitals in the EU, Switzerland and Israel to determine rapidly whether an infection is bacterial or viral; and ImmunoPoC, a point-of-care version not yet on the market.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/nobel-for-antibiotics-tool/
Oct 08, 2009...
Trio win chemistry prize for work that has led to cures for diseases.
STOCKHOLM—Americans Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas Steitz and Israeli Ada Yonath on Wednesday won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry for the atom-by-atom mapping of protein-making factories within cells.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their work on ribosomes has been fundamental to the scientific understanding of life and has helped researchers develop antibiotic cures for various diseases.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/same-microbe-different-effect/
Mar 27, 2019...
Seemingly identical bacteria may harbor genetic differences that affect the host-microbiome relationship
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 27, 2019—Our gut microbiome – the complement of bacteria we carry around in our intestines – has been linked to everything from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and even neurological disorders and cancer. In recent years, researchers have been sorting through the multiple bacterial species that populate the microbiome, asking which of them can be implicated in specific disorders. But a paper recently published in Nature addressed a new question: “What if the same microbe is different in different people?”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-secret-social-lives-of-viruses/
Jun 18, 2019...
Illustration by Karol Banach
Geneticist Rotem Sorek could see that his bacteria were sick — so far, so good. He had deliberately infected them with a virus to test whether each ailing microbe soldiered on alone or communicated with its allies to fight the attack.
But when he and his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, looked into the contents of their flasks, they saw something completely unexpected: the bacteria were silent, and it was the viruses that were chattering away, passing notes to each other in a molecular language only they could understand. They were deciding together when to lie low in the host cell and when to replicate and burst out, in search of new victims.
Nov 24, 2016... Following a successful diet, many people are dismayed to find their weight rebounding – an all-too-common phenomenon termed “recurrent” or “yo-yo” obesity. Worse still, the vast majority of recurrently obese individuals not only rebound to their pre-dieting weight but also gain more weight with each dieting cycle. During each round of dieting-and-weight-regain, their proportion of body fat increases, and so does the risk of developing the manifestations of metabolic syndrome, including adult-onset diabetes, fatty liver, and other obesity-related diseases.
Oct 24, 2019... Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN; TASE:EVGN) biopharmaceutical unit Biomica, which is developing innovative microbiome-based therapeutics, has announced a collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science to develop a selective treatment against antibiotic resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus infection. This microbiome focused approach aims to target a specific microbe while maintaining the microbiome of the patients’ gut. The company has in-licensed Prof. Ada Yonath’s, Nobel Prize laureate, work and discoveries in high-resolution crystal structure of the large ribosomal subunit of the pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus. The crystal structure originates from pathogenic species, allowing a high degree of specificity, and together with Biomica’s unique computational technology, will enable the design and development of new types of selective, narrow spectrum antibiotics agents. Prof. Yonath’s group will scientifically support Biomica in the development of the technology.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/building-a-better-antibiotic/
Apr 23, 2012...
Prof. Ada Yonath
When harmful bacteria become resistant to medicine, the cost—to both human health and society—is high. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), microbial resistance not only kills people, but also impedes control of infectious diseases, damages trade and economies, and threatens to return us to the pre-antibiotic era.
Drug resistance is a growing problem, as decades of misuse and overuse of antibiotics have resulted in the evolution of bacteria that do not respond to such medicines, leading to a rise in “superbugs” such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-october-2012/
Oct 22, 2012... Not long ago, some unassuming bacteria found themselves at the center of a scientific controversy: a group claimed that these microorganisms, which live in an environment that is rich in the arsenic-based compound arsenate, could take up that arsenate and use it — instead of the phosphate on which all known life on Earth depends. The claim, since disproved, raised another question: How do organisms living with arsenate pick and choose the right substance?
Jun 09, 2017...
Image via Shutterstock
It’s the ultimate health-conscious grocer’s dilemma: Is wheat bread really healthier than white?
While people have been told for years that wheat bread is hands-down the healthier choice, new research proves otherwise.
A team of Israeli scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science conducted a small study in which 20 participants consumed either processed white bread or artisanal whole wheat sourdough.
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