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.
Jan 19, 2017...
White blood cell squeezing through endothelial cells (grey) on its way out of the blood vessel walls. The actin cytoskeleton of both cells is exposed; the white blood cell nucleus is shown in brown and the large actin-rich extension that dismantles the endothelial actin is shown in yellow
One of the mysteries of the living body is the movement of cells – not just in the blood, but through cellular and other barriers. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science has shed light on the subject, especially on the movement of immune cells that race to the sites of infection and inflammation. The study, published in Cell, revealed that these cells – white blood cells – actively open large gaps in the internal lining of the blood vessels, so they can exit through the vessel walls and rapidly get to areas of infection.
Feb 11, 2020...
Even in 2020, with all we know about health and nutrition, heart disease is still the leading cause of death in America, accounting for one in four mortalities. Fortunately, the Weizmann Institute of Science is taking multiple approaches to understanding and treating this too-common killer. February is American Heart Month – and we’d love to share our very latest research with you.
While there are several vital heart-related projects underway at the Institute, the lab of leading researcher Prof. Eldad Tzahor recently made a significant breakthrough: discovering that a non-toxic dye actually helps repair damaged heart tissue, such as the scarring that occurs after a heart attack.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-march-2013/
Mar 18, 2013... For years, scientists around the world have dreamed of building a complete, functional, artificial cell. Though this vision is still a distant blur on the horizon, many are making progress on various fronts. Prof. Roy Bar-Ziv and his research team in the Weizmann Institute’s Materials and Interfaces Department recently took a significant step in this direction when they created a two-dimensional, cell-like system on a glass chip. This system, composed of some of the basic biological molecules found in cells — DNA, RNA, proteins — carried out one of the central functions of a living cell: gene expression, the process by which the information stored in the genes is translated into proteins. More than that, it enabled the scientists, led by research student Yael Heyman, to obtain “snapshots” of this process in nanoscale resolution.
Jan 27, 2020...
When Weizmann Institute of Science Prof. Rivka Dikstein set out to study a gene regulating inflammation, she had no idea she’d find a promising route to developing a drug for Huntington’s disease.
Dikstein’s biomolecular sciences team focused on a gene called Spt5, which regulates how DNA is copied for manufacturing proteins. The scientists discovered that Spt5 plays a key role in inflammation.
Jan 02, 2006... In 2002 a clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's vaccine was halted when a few patients began experiencing brain inflammation, a result of the immune system mounting an attack against the body. Now some researchers claim that inducing a mild autoimmune reaction could actually protect the central nervous system from a spectrum of neurodegenerative conditions, from glaucoma and spinal cord injury to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. "This is a hot-button issue right now," says Howard Gendelman of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Apr 06, 2020...
A comprehensive review of published studies on gut microbiota, immunity and arthritis suggests that having a microbial imbalance may precede the development of spondyloarthritides and osteoarthritis.
The review, which was published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, suggests a close connection between an impaired microbiota, the immune system and inflammatory arthritis.
“In this review, we presented data supporting the idea that dysbiosis via a close, dynamic and tightly regulated cross talk with gut-associated lymphoid tissue, governs the development of inflammatory arthropathies, such as rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis and osteoarthritis. It became clear that unfavorable dysbiosis-mediated immune alterations precede the development of these disorders suggesting causal relationships in this link,” wrote authors Alexander Kalinkovich of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and Gregory Livshits of Tel Aviv University.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/a-noninvasive-test-for-gut-inflammation/
Jan 24, 2022... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 24, 2022— Today, people suspected of having inflammatory bowel disease are often required to undergo a colonoscopy, an invasive procedure performed under anesthesia. A new method developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science in collaboration with the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer may offer a noninvasive alternative: detecting inflammation in the intestines by analyzing a fecal sample. In the future, stool testing might facilitate the diagnosis of disorders such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and help monitor their course, as well as enable physicians to select the most appropriate therapy for each patient. The study’s findings are being published this week in the journal Gut.
Aug 04, 2022... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 4, 2022—The myriads of microbes in our gut, collectively termed the microbiome, are considered important to our health, but they can also harbor bacteria that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease or other disorders. Currently, however, it is impossible to target such disease-contributing bacteria without harming the surrounding beneficial microbes. Antibiotics kill friendly microbes along with the harmful ones, and in any event, they tend to trigger bacterial resistance and to have side effects. In a study published today in Cell, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of a potential therapy for killing inflammation-causing gut bacteria in a targeted manner: by using viruses that infect them.
Dec 05, 2022...
There is no cure for Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, the two chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that cause flareups of abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and even malnutrition.
Ulcerative colitis affects only the colon, while Crohn’s can attack any part of the digestive system.
Although scientists debate whether IBD is an autoimmune disorder, they agree that the painful inflammation is caused by an abnormal immune response to lifestyle triggers (such as diet) and environmental triggers (such as bacteria).
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