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.
Jan 21, 2020...
A new computer algorithm developed by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot can predict which women are at a high risk of gestational diabetes in the early stages of pregnancy or even before it has occurred, the institute said in a press release Monday afternoon.
The study analyzed data on nearly 600,000 pregnancies available from Israel's largest health insurance provider, Clalit Health Services, the Weizmann Institute of Science said. According to the institute, the algorithm may help prevent gestational diabetes using nutritional and lifestyle changes.
Jan 27, 2020...
Similar to the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, their smaller cousins, Uranus and Neptune, have long been known to harbor swirling clouds and violent winds churning up their atmospheres. Massive bands of jet streams encircling the entire planet have been observed in each case.
But given that Uranus’ atmosphere is believed to be thick enough to swallow Earth entirely, it was not known just how far the weather perturbations reach into the planet’s interior.
Jul 23, 2019...
Image by Tashatuvango via Shutterstock.com
A trailblazing study by Israeli researchers suggests that intestinal microbes may have a direct effect on the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the incurable, fatal neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease that affected physicist Stephen Hawking.
Published today in Nature, the study by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science revealed that the progression of an ALS-like disease in lab mice was slowed after the mice received certain strains of gut microbes or substances known to be secreted by these microbes.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/gut-microbes-may-affect-the-course-of-als/
Jul 22, 2019...
Gut microbes such as these were found to have altered levels in ALS patients
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—July 22, 2019—Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have shown in mice that intestinal microbes, collectively termed the gut microbiome, may affect the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As reported in Nature, progression of an ALS-like disease was slowed after the mice received certain strains of gut microbes or substances known to be secreted by these microbes. Preliminary results suggest that the findings on the regulatory function of the microbiome may be applicable to human patients with ALS.
Jul 22, 2019...
When immune cells (macrophage, blue) meet bacteria (red), the first day or two is critical for the eventual outcome
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—July 22, 2019—First impressions are important – they can set the stage for the entire course of a relationship. The same is true for the impressions the cells of our immune system form when they first meet a new bacterium. Using this insight, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have developed an algorithm that may predict the onset of diseases such as tuberculosis. The findings of this research were published in Nature Communications.
Aug 27, 2019...
Xray of a patient with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Image by Shutterstock
Just as first impressions set the stage for the entire course of a relationship, first impressions set the stage for how the cells of our immune system react when meeting a new microbe, according to Israeli researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
This new insight led the researchers to develop an algorithm that may predict the onset of such diseases as tuberculosis. Their findings were published July 22 in Nature Communications.
Jul 23, 2019...
Gut bacteria may play a role in motor neurone disease ALS by speeding up progression, early studies reveal. The cruel condition that killed Professor Stephen Hawking, pictured
Gut bacteria could play a role in the development of motor neurone disease - also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, early studies suggest.
Tests on mice showed a change in their gut microbe levels before symptoms of the crippling disorder appeared.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/intermittent-lockdown/
Mar 31, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 31, 2020—Think of dieting. You can fast for two months and lose weight, but you will probably die. Even if you survive, you will quickly gain weight again. Similarly, a two-month lockdown will suppress the coronavirus, but it will kill the economy. Lockdown will push hundreds of millions of people globally into unemployment and poverty. Many sectors of the economy will collapse. At the end of each lockdown, remaining patients will cause a resurge in the epidemic, forcing another lockdown.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/predicting-who-will-get-leukemia/
Jan 28, 2020...
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, is usually only diagnosed at an advanced stage, at which point it requires aggressive treatment. Although AML is a relatively rare disease, accounting for just 1.8 percent of cancer deaths in the U.S., its incidence is expected to increase as the population ages. The average age of diagnosis is 68.
“What’s horrible about AML is that often there are no symptoms or very mild symptoms, and it’s discovered during a routine blood test, meaning it’s identified when it is at a very late stage,” says Dr. Liran Shlush of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Immunology.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/new-algorithm-predicts-gestational-diabetes/
Jan 13, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 13, 2020—A new computer algorithm enables prediction, in the early stages of pregnancy or even before pregnancy has occurred, of which women are at a high risk of gestational diabetes. Conducted by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, the study was reported in Nature Medicine. The scientists analyzed data on nearly 600,000 pregnancies available from Israel’s largest health organization, Clalit Health Services. It may be possible, based on these predictions, to prevent gestational diabetes using nutritional and lifestyle changes.