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 01, 2022... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 1, 2022— An egg meets a sperm – that’s a necessary first step in life’s beginnings, and it’s also a common first step in embryonic development research. But in a Weizmann Institute of Science study published today in Cell, researchers have grown synthetic embryo models of mice outside the womb by starting solely with stem cells cultured in a petri dish – that is, without the use of fertilized eggs. The method opens new horizons for studying how stem cells form various organs in the developing embryo, and may one day make it possible to grow tissues and organs for transplantation using synthetic embryo models.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/2022-breakthroughs-of-the-year/
Dec 08, 2022...
Today, The Atlantic reveals its inaugural 10 Breakthroughs of the Year. The accomplishments span every station of life, from birth to death, and every component, from our cells to the stars. They include a drug that revives the organs of dead animals; an embryo created without sperm or egg; a telescope to see the universe’s first moments; and an AI that conjures award-winning art.
One theme of this year’s list is the principle of “twin ideas”—the tendency for major breakthroughs to have more than one author. The telegraph was invented by Charles Wheatstone and Samuel Morse in the same year, 1837, and patents for the telephone were filed by Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell on the same day in 1876. Accordingly, many of this year’s breakthroughs are group efforts rather than individual awards. We didn’t just get one mind-blowing generative AI app this year; we got several in the span of a few months. We didn’t just get one “unheard-of” cancer breakthrough; we got several in one year. In this golden age of new vaccine technology, many different companies are building off the success of the COVID shots to deliver new antiviral weaponry for humankind.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/treating-a-heart-attack-before-it-happens/
Mar 08, 2023...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 8, 2023— Imagine getting treatment for a perfectly healthy young heart that would allow it to recover from an otherwise devastating injury decades later.
If you think this prospect seems farfetched, you are not alone. Until recently, Prof. Eldad Tzahor, whose lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science studies heart tissue regeneration, had also considered it science fiction. After all, cardiovascular diseases, which are humanity’s leading cause of death, aren’t generally perceived as something one can prepare for through preventive treatment. But Tzahor and researchers in his lab have now activated a cellular mechanism in healthy mouse hearts that makes these mice resilient to future heart attacks – even when they occur months later.
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