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/news-releases/science-tips-june-2008/
Jun 02, 2008...
Scientists in the Weizmann Institute’s Faculty of Chemistry, together with colleagues in Germany, have made a startling prediction: Simply “taking the temperature” of certain quantum systems at frequent intervals might cause them to disobey a hard and fast rule of thermodynamics.
Thermodynamics tell us that the interaction between a large heat source (a heat bath) and an ensemble of much smaller systems must bring them – at least on average – progressively closer to thermal equilibrium. Now Prof. Gershon Kurizki, Dr. Noam Erez, and doctoral student Goren Gordon of the Chemical Physics Department, in collaboration with Dr. Mathias Nest of Potsdam University, Germany, have shown that ensembles of quantum systems in thermal contact with a heat bath could present a drastic departure from this allegedly universal trend, a prediction they recently reported in Nature.
Jul 03, 2013... Israel has provided the global drug development pipeline with many well–known internationally successful medications including Copaxone, Rebif, Exelon, Doxil, Azilect and Gonal. In fact there is yet another well–known drug that is not very often associated with Israel – Enbrel, for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and probably the most successful Israeli drug that you do not recognize as Israeli.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-july-2013/
Aug 01, 2013...
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of a logic circuit based on 14 nanowires. From the work of Prof. Joselevich.
Researchers working with tiny components in nanoelectronics face a challenge similar to that of parents of small children: teaching them to manage on their own. The nano-components are so small that arranging them with external tools is impossible. The only solution is to create conditions in which they can be “trusted” to assemble themselves.
Jan 18, 2017...
When it infiltrates a blood vessel wall, a T cell pushes thin filaments out of the way – but these quickly reassemble. Credit: BARZILAI ET AL / CELL REPORTS 2016
When immune cells need to attack an invader or simply patrol your organs, they must slip in and out of the bloodstream. But how they do this hasn’t been fully understood – until now.
A team from Israel and the UK watched different types of immune cell shimmy through a blood vessel wall. And instead of the blood vessel cells contracting to let them through, it appears immune cells squeeze their way through, breaking a few cell structures which are rapidly replaced.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/new-hope-for-gaucher-patients/
Jan 21, 2014... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 19, 2014—What causes brain damage and inflammation in severe cases of Gaucher disease? Little is known about the events that lead to brain pathology in some forms of the disease, and there is currently no treatment available — a bleak outlook for sufferers and their families. Now, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered a new cellular pathway implicated in Gaucher disease. Their findings, published today in Nature Medicine, may offer a new therapeutic target for the management of this disease, as well as other related disorders.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/good-for-skin-bad-for-fertility/
Jan 27, 2011...
Antioxidants touted as an anti-aging remedy and added to food and cosmetics may hinder ovulation, Israeli scientists have discovered.
Consumers have been told for years that antioxidants added to food, drink and facial cosmetics are a natural way to combat cell damage and slow down the aging process.
But according to a study by Prof. Nava Dekel of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, these additives could be causing female fertility problems.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/helping-to-map-geographic-tongue/
Apr 01, 2015...
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A spiral series of self-sustaining cycles of excitation underlies the puzzling condition known geographic tongue, physicists suggest.
"Geographic tongue" refers to the red patches that appear when filiform papillae on the tongue are lost (they subsequently regrow). The condition affects about 2% of the population, but its exact cause is unknown.
"Utilizing a dynamical systems approach (i.e., a mathematical description of the dynamical aspect of the condition) allows one to get an insight regarding the evolution and severity of the geographic tongue (GT) condition," Dr. Gabriel Seiden from Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Rehovot, Israel, told Reuters Health by email. "I hope that by combining our theoretical approach to GT with medical research we might better understand the underlying mechanism/cause of this intriguing medical condition."
Sep 15, 2015...
Your body's immune system might be able to fight obesity. Photo: Emilio Labrador CC BY 2.0
It is well known that this country is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. No matter how long we exercise or how healthy we try to eat, it just does not seem to be enough, as there also seem to be other causes of obesity, including genetics. Some people even consider it an autoimmune, inflammatory disorder, because fat cells may produce various inflammatory molecules that can disrupt the balance established by a normal immune system. Considering this, is there a way to manipulate the immune system in order to battle obesity?
May 30, 2018...
Cross-section of the inner lining of a human gut adjacent to a cancerous tumor. The enzyme ASL (red-brown), which helps manufacture nitric oxide, has accumulated in unusually high amounts in cells of the lining, probably in an attempt to alleviate the inflammation that commonly occurs in the gut of colon cancer patients
Treating inflammatory diseases of the bowel is extremely challenging: genes, gut microbes, and disrupted immune function all contribute. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers are proposing a way around this complexity. In a study in mice, published in Cell Reports, they have found a way to trigger a natural defense mechanism that prompts the body itself to alleviate intestinal inflammation.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/can-boosting-immunity-make-you-smarter/
Feb 12, 2013...
T cells, white blood cells that are a key part of the immune system, may also play an important role in cognitive function. NIBSC/Science Source
After spending a few days in bed with the flu, you may have felt a bit stupid. It is a common sensation, that your sickness is slowing down your brain. At first blush, though, it doesn’t make much sense. For one thing, flu viruses infect the lining of the airways, not the neurons in our brains. For another, the brain is walled off from the rest of the body by a series of microscopic defenses collectively known as the blood-brain barrier. It blocks most viruses and bacteria while allowing essential molecules like glucose to slip through. What ails the body, in other words, shouldn’t interfere with our thinking.But over the past decade, Jonathan Kipnis, a neuroimmunologist in the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s department of neuroscience, has discovered a possible link, a modern twist on the age-old notion of the body-mind connection. His research suggests that the immune system engages the brain in an intricate dialogue that can influence our thought processes, coaxing our brains to work at their best.
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