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.
Aug 19, 2022... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 19, 2022—Non-nutritive sweeteners – also known as sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners – are supposed to deliver all the sweetness of sugar without the calories. But a controlled trial conducted by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers, published today in Cell, suggests that contrary to previous belief, such sweeteners are not inert: They do have an effect on the human body. In fact, some can alter human consumers’ microbiomes – the trillions of microbes that live in our gut – in a way that can change a person’s blood sugar levels. And the effects these sweeteners produce vary greatly among different people.
Sep 08, 2022... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 8, 2022—Blood tests – simple, noninvasive and economically feasible – promise to become the next major milestone in cancer diagnosis. However, most of these tests, dubbed liquid biopsies, are currently not reliable enough for widespread use. A new, multiparameter approach developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science may lead to a blood test that will diagnose cancer with unprecedented accuracy. This research is being published today in Nature Biotechnology.
Apr 23, 2023... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—April 27, 2023—To get life-giving oxygen into every cell, the human body produces two to three million oxygen-carrying red blood cells, or erythrocytes, each second – about one-quarter of all the new cells that are produced in the body at any one time. This process is controlled by the hormone erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, which works by binding to cells in the bone marrow that are poised to become erythrocytes, promoting their proliferation. Erythropoietin was discovered decades ago, but the identity of the cells that make this hormone remained unknown – until now.
May 24, 2023...
To get life-giving oxygen into every cell, the human body produces two to three million oxygen-carrying red blood cells each second, a process controlled by the hormone erythropoietin (EPO), which works by binding to cells in the bone marrow and promoting their proliferation. Discovered decades ago, the identity of the cells that make this hormone remained unknown – until now.
In a new paper, published in Nature Medicine, Weizmann scientists from Prof. Ido Amit’s lab and colleagues from Israel, Europe, and the United States have identified a rare subset of kidney cells that are the main producers of EPO in the human body, a discovery that has transformative potential for patients with anemia.