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 10, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 10, 2020—Invading cells’ private space – prying into their internal functions, decisions, and communications – could be a powerful tool that may help researchers develop new immunotherapy treatments for cancer. As reported in Cell, a research group at the Weizmann Institute of Science have developed a technology enabling them to see inside tens of thousands of individual cells, at once, in greater detail than ever before.
Sep 10, 2020...
A novel treatment for Alzheimer’s, developed by one of Israel’s top scientists, is preparing to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial and, if successful, it could change the course of the disease and arrest its progression.
The therapy, developed by ImmunoBrain Checkpoint and based on 20 years of work by Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute of Science demonstrating that the immune system is needed for the maintenance of healthy brain function and repair, would contribute to the understanding of the biology of Alzheimer’s disease.
Sep 16, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 16, 2020—By tracking the evolution of what may be our oldest means of fighting off viral infection, a group at the Weizmann Institute of Science has uncovered a gold mine of antiviral substances that may lead to the development of highly effective antiviral drugs. These substances are made by virus-fighting enzymes known as viperins, which were previously known to exist only in mammals and have now been found in bacteria. The molecules produced by the bacterial viperins are currently undergoing testing against human viruses such as influenza and COVID-19. The study was published in Nature.
Sep 17, 2020...
Virus-fighting enzymes, known as viperins, which have been previously thought to exist only in mammals, have been also detected in bacteria and are being tried against human viruses, including the coronavirus, according to a new study led by a team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was published in the leading scientific magazine Nature.
The team, led by Professor Rotem Sorek from the Molecular Genetics Department in the institute, discovered that bacteria produce a large variety of antiviral substances that have the potential to help fighting viral diseases.
Sep 15, 2020...
Israeli researchers say they have taken a stride forward in efforts to “understand the enemy” in the hope of subduing it, after identifying four previously unknown proteins that people produce as a result of coronavirus infection.
They have also identified 19 peptides, short chains of amino acids, that had not previously been identified in the bodies of infected people.
“We now know the enemy better,” Noam Stern-Ginossar, a scientist behind the peer-reviewed study just published in Nature, told The Times of Israel.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-coronavirus-unveiled/
Oct 09, 2020...
In February, as the new coronavirus swept across China and shut down entire cities, a scientist named Sai Li set out to paint its portrait.
At the time, the best pictures anyone had managed to take were low-resolution images, in which the virus looked like a barely discernible smudge.
Dr. Li, a structural biologist at Tsinghua University in Beijing, joined forces with virologists who were rearing the virus in a biosafety lab in the city of Hangzhou. Those researchers doused the viruses with chemicals to render them harmless and then sent them to Dr. Li.
Oct 27, 2020...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—October 27, 2020—Acute liver failure is a devastating, rapidly progressing disease that results in death in 80% of cases, unless an emergency liver transplant is performed. In the developed world, its leading cause is a substantial overdose of acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol.
In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers from the labs of Prof. Eran Elinav and Prof. Ido Amit in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Immunology have, using mouse models of acute liver failure, discovered three liver-cell subsets that orchestrate the development of this condition. The scientists also identified signals – from the gut microbiome as well as the diseased liver – that jointly activate these cells, and showed that selectively blocking the signals and depleting the microbiome led to marked improvement in liver function and prolonged survival in the mice. An analysis of liver tissue from human patients with acute liver failure revealed a molecular pattern strikingly similar to the one identified in mice in the study, raising hopes that the findings may in the future be translated into a treatment for humans.
Oct 27, 2020...
A new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science, published in Nature Medicine, has found new subsets of cells and signals from the gut microbiome and the diseased liver that contribute to acute liver failure.
The researchers, who work in the labs of Profs. Eran Elinav and Ido Amit in the Immunology Department, hope that this and other research findings will contribute to new treatments for the condition.
Nov 05, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—November 5, 2020—Peculiar hybrid structures called retrons that are half RNA, half single-strand DNA are found in many species of bacteria. Since their discovery around 35 years ago, researchers have learned how to use retrons for producing single strands of DNA in the lab – yet despite extensive research into the matter, the retrons’ function in the bacteria was unknown. Now, in a paper published in Cell, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers report that the longstanding mystery has been solved: Retrons are immune system “guards” that ensure the survival of the bacterial colony when it is infected by viruses.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-cell-whisperer/
Nov 21, 2020... These are coronavirus days, and very few people can be seen in the narrow corridors of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. We’re in the molecular immunology laboratory, located in one of the institute’s old buildings. It’s a simple place, the instruments are banal and dull. It looks like any lab in the world, one of thousands. But a miracle is occurring between the walls here. In the small details. The smallest.
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