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.
Mar 14, 2019...
View of a research chip through a microscope: a high concentration of antifreeze proteins ensures that the drops freeze at temperatures that are less cold than usual. The frozen drops are dark. Photo: Bielefeld University
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 14, 2019—Antifreeze is life’s means of surviving in cold winters: natural antifreeze proteins help fish, insects, plants, and even bacteria live through low temperatures that should turn their liquid parts into deadly shards of ice. Strangely enough, in very cold conditions, the same proteins can also promote the growth of ice crystals. This was the finding of experiments carried out in Israel and Germany using proteins taken from fish and beetles. The results of this study, recently published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, could have implications for understanding the basic processes of ice formation.
Oct 02, 2019...
The lungs of a mouse with untreated Ewing sarcoma (left) contain numerous tumor cells (shown by luminescent colors) that have spread from the bone; the lungs of a mouse treated with a drug reducing the synthesis of glucocorticoids are almost free from the sarcoma (right)
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—October 2, 2019—Ewing sarcoma is a bone cancer that appears mainly in teenagers. Caused by a single defective gene, once it spreads to distant organs it is hard to treat. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now discovered molecular interactions underlying Ewing sarcomas and proposed a potential treatment that has shown promise in a study in mice. These findings were published in Cell Reports.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/ebola-antibodies-at-work/
Oct 07, 2019... In the recurring, deadly Ebola outbreaks in parts of Africa, today’s health workers now have at least some tools to fight the disease: vaccines. Vaccines against Ebola have been administered to over 100,000 people to date, but they are barely out of the experimental stage. It is not known how well these vaccines will provide long-term protection across a broad population. Furthermore, on the basic scientific level, the effects of vaccination on the immune system and how the immune response of vaccinated individuals compares with that of individuals who have survived Ebola infections was not known. A Weizmann Institute of Science lab recently joined forces with a research team in Cologne, Germany, to uncover the details of the molecular response that occurs in the immune system after vaccination against Ebola. Their findings may help health organizations devise better strategies for containing and preventing the disease.
Aug 02, 2019...
JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) – Israeli scientists have discovered when and where mistakes occur in the cellular manufacture of proteins, which may help with Alzheimer’s and cancer researches, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) reported Thursday.
The researchers not only succeeded in measuring the rate of such mistakes, but also revealed that the DNA contains a “mistake manual” of sorts that dictates where these mistakes need to be avoided and where they may be tolerated or even welcome.
Feb 25, 2019...
Source: © Shutterstock
‘Since I work on rubisco I’m always giving talks saying that it is the most abundant protein on Earth. Sometimes my audience will ask “Are you really sure?” I can now say “Yes I am”.’ This is how Manajit Hayer-Hartl from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany sums up her thoughts on a new analysis that the global abundance of plants’ carbon dioxide converting enzyme is an order of magnitude higher than thought.
Mar 23, 2020... Dr. Nir London of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Organic Chemistry explains his lab’s approach to fighting the coronavirus: creating a novel antiviral treatment. After identifying candidates for an antibody, he and his team are designing second-generation compounds that will go to colleagues in Germany and the U.K. for testing against the virus. Dr. London emphasizes the fact that this is open science: research that is freely available to all, for the benefit of everyone.
Oct 07, 2019...
A group of Israeli and German scientists has joined forces to defeat Ebola, one of the deadliest contagious diseases of the 21st century.A Weizmann Institute of Science lab recently started to work with a research team in Cologne, Germany, to gain a better understanding of how the vaccination against the virus affects the immune system.
“These vaccines -- made by recombinant methods that attach an Ebola protein to a harmless virus -- are hard to produce, and thus there is not enough of them to vaccinate an entire population,” explained Ron Diskin of Weizmann’s Structural Biology Department.“In addition, the civil strife in some areas where Ebola is rampant today, the facts that it is often needed in villages that are hard to reach and that because of its scarcity, the vaccine tends to be given only to those most closely connected to individuals who are already sick,” he further stated.“Understanding exactly how the immune response is produced following vaccination will not only help refine the vaccine, itself. It can help us understand whether it will work against different strains of the virus or whether the dose given today is the best one,” the scientist added. The Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola fatality rate is around 50%, but it can vary from 25% to 90% in different outbreaks.
Jul 25, 2019...
BiondVax
A universal flu vaccine is the key to combating the ever-mutating flu virus, but did we ever really stop to think about whether there is a better way?
The flu virus, or influenza, is far more than a week-long inconvenience that pulls us away from our commitments, although that, in and of itself, is pretty annoying. The flu can get deadly fast. According to the World Health Organization, influenza kills up to 650,000 people each year. Read that number again. In the US alone, the flu kills about 12,000 people in mild years, and up to 56,000 people in the more severe years, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Mar 19, 2020... “This is the most important thing I can do,” says the Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Sarel Fleishman. His lab in the Department of Biomolecular Sciences was already studying SARS, which is, like COVID-19, a coronavirus. He is able to quickly apply his knowledge to developing computer models that allow him to design coronavirus antibodies – work that could lead to a vaccine.
Mar 19, 2020... In this videoconference, the Weizmann Institute’s Dr. Ron Diskin of the Department of Structural Biology, an expert in animal-borne viruses such as coronavirus, shares his insights on the current pandemic. A Q&A session with participants follows.
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