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 future of humanity.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/the-immune-system-s-fountain-of-youth/
Dec 31, 2018...
Drug treatment eliminates senescent cells from tissues of old mice. The blue staining shows senescent cells in lung and liver tissue. The amount of the staining is significantly reduced following the drug treatment
If only we could keep our bodies young, healthy, and energetic, even as we attain the wisdom of our years. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests this dream could be at least partly obtainable in the future. The results of this research, led by Prof. Valery Krizhanovsky and Dr. Yossi Ovadya in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology, were recently published in Nature Communications.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/saccharin-solution/
Sep 20, 2014... Diet Coke is one of science’s great miracles. Ordinary Coca-Cola relies on lashings of sugar to achieve its trademark sickly sweetness – 15.9 grams per can, or about a third of the total daily intake recommended for women by Britain’s National Health Service. A can of Diet Coke, by contrast, contains no sugar at all. It owes its sweetness to aspartame and acesulfame-K, a pair of chemicals that are far sweeter than ordinary sugar, but which provide the body with no energy at all.
Sep 13, 2019...
Illustrative photo of a doctor with a cancer patient (via Shutterstock)
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have found that diversity in cancer cells causes the cancers to be less responsive to immunotherapies — treatments that harness the immune system to tackle the devastating disease.
The Weizmann researchers say their findings indicate that heterogeneity of the cancer cells should be taken into account when trying to understand whether a patient will benefit from immunotherapies.
Apr 20, 2015...
How does an octopus control eight highly flexible and independent arms so well? By David Frank and James Gorman on April 20, 2015.
The octopus is much celebrated for its intelligence and use of camouflage, but one of its most remarkable achievements is how it moves.
The animal somehow controls eight long, flexible arms with a fluidity that can make it look like animated – and very smart – spaghetti. The problem of controlling this kind of movement is, as scientists say, “not trivial.”
Mar 19, 2020... Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Molecular Genetics provides an overview – complete with helpful cartoons – of basic questions: what is a virus? Why is coronavirus worse than the flu? (One reason – it’s new and so we have no immunity.) What are the issues related to developing a vaccine? (Mostly it’s time; otherwise, we know what to do, she reassures us.)
Nov 02, 2016...
“The composition of intestinal bacteria affects the decisions made by our brain. The more I learned about intestinal bacteria, the more it kept me awake at night,” says DayTwo founder and CEO Lihi Segal. Her company is using the breakthrough science of intestinal bacteria for commercial purposes.
The composition of intestinal bacteria is set in most people by age 2, and thereafter changes only slightly. DayTwo’s technology is based on research at the Weizmann Institute led by Prof. Eran Segal and Dr. Eran Elinav, which was first reported in “Globes” in 2013. This research showed that the composition of intestinal bacteria, which is unique for each person, has a differential impact on how that person responds to certain food, and specifically on his blood sugar levels. Eating a banana might greatly increase the blood sugar level for one person with a certain intestinal bacteria composition and eating an apple would not, while another person might have opposite responses to the two fruits.
Mar 24, 2020... “Vaccination is life.” Weizmann scientists give us a quick history lesson on the vaccine. Dr. Ziv Shulman, Prof Ruth Arnon, and Prof. Ido Amit explain humankind’s long knowledge of the immune system, Edward Jenner’s discovery of the vaccine, and the public-health implications of vaccination.
Sep 17, 2014...
Sugary sodas have come under fire for contributing to obesity and diabetes, but new research suggests artificial sweeteners may also raise blood sugar levels. Photograph by Sam Hodgson, Reuters
There's no such thing as a free lunch, or at least a free artificially sweetened one, a new study suggests. Saccharin and other artificial sweeteners may raise blood sugar levels – a condition the sugar substitutes aim to help prevent – by altering digestive bacteria, Israeli researchers reported on Wednesday. (Related: "What Lives in Your Gut?")
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/mouse-groups-reveal-complex-relationships/
Sep 02, 2013...
The movements of mice, dyed in different fluorescent colors, are tracked in the darkened enclosure. From the work of Prof. Alon Chen and Dr. Elad Schneidman.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 2, 2013—A common belief is that our modern, stimulation-filled environment encourages individualistic behavior (or antisocial behavior, depending on one’s point of view), while simpler surroundings give rise to a more developed community life. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that this assumption – at least for mice – is based in reality: Mice that have been raised in a stimulus-rich environment have less complexity in their social interactions than those growing up in more Spartan conditions. The findings were based on two innovative developments: The first is an automated system that continuously tracks groups of mice living in semi-natural conditions, and the second is a mathematical framework for analyzing data, which enabled the scientists to characterize, in detail, the nature of the mice’s collective behavior.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/decoy-molecule-neutralizes-a-range-of-viruses/
Jan 07, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 7, 2020—A host of disease-causing viruses called arenaviruses lurk in animal populations in various parts of the world, sometimes crossing over into humans. When they do cross over, they can be lethal, and only very few treatments exist. Researchers led by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now devised a clever decoy for these viruses that may keep them from spreading in the body.