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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/blog/what-is-happening-to-our-sense-of-time-during-covid/
Dec 31, 2020...
We have all experienced a warped sense of time during these Groundhog Blursdays of the pandemic – but why?
Some reasons are obvious. We have lost our guideposts, and events that occurred like clockwork – holidays, birthdays – have largely been cancelled. Seasons and school days aren’t well-defined. Weekends – what’s the diff?
And if you are fortunate enough to work remotely, you no longer have the adjustment period of a commute; going straight from bed to the kitchen coffeemaker to one’s makeshift office is simply not the same. Our environment, clothing, and habits are unchanging.
Jan 12, 2021... Prof. Roee Ozeri, Vice President for Resource Development, hosts this session of the Institute’s 72nd board meeting. He presents the state of the research on the coronavirus – and what’s next, including stopping future pandemics.
Jan 12, 2021... This webinar, hosted by the Latin American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science features Prof. Gabi Barbash, Director Emeritus-General of Israel’s Ministry of Health and Director of Weizmann’s Bench-to-Bedside Program, and Prof. Igor Ulitsky of the Department of Biological Regulation.
Jan 16, 2021...
We are rapidly learning how SARS-CoV-2 mutates to create variants with new characteristics. Some of these new variants, such as those found in the UK and South Africa, may affect our ability to control the pandemic, including contagion mitigation, diagnosis, and vaccination.
Over the past few weeks, reports show that some variants of SARS-CoV-2 are more contagious than earlier strains. Sequence analysis of these variants reveals that their genome and proteins differ subtly from their less infectious origins. The viral protein studied in most detail is the spike protein. Multiple independent isolates harbor changes in the spike protein that account, at least partially, for their increased transmissibility.
Feb 01, 2021...
Many bacteria contain retrons, DNA sequences which code for enzymes that transcribe RNA into DNA and an unusual molecule made of both DNA and RNA. But microbiologists have puzzled over retrons’ function. “People suggested . . . this may be a selfish genetic element, [or] it may be involved in virulence,” says the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Rotem Sorek. “But nobody actually knew.”
See “Rotem Sorek Searches for Bacteria’s Defenses Against Viruses”
Jan 28, 2021... Danielle Reed stopped counting after the 156th email arrived in a single afternoon. It was late March, and her laboratory at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia had abruptly gone into Covid-19 lockdown. For weeks, there had been little to do. Reed, who is famous in her field for helping to discover a new family of receptors that perceive bitter flavors, had spent years studying the way human genetics affect the way we experience smell and taste. It was important but niche science that seemingly had little to do with a dangerous respiratory virus spreading around the globe.
Mar 23, 2021... How did scientists develop an effective vaccine for Covid-19 in less than a year? In this webinar, the American Committee welcomed Dr. Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development, and Medical at Pfizer. In conversation with former American Committee President and renowned AIDS researcher Dr. Jay Levy, Dr. Dolsten shed light on the breakthroughs that enabled his team, in collaboration with researchers around the world, to produce a viable vaccine at such an extraordinary speed. He also shared his own scientific journey, including the transformative semester he spent at the Weizmann Institute as a PhD student. During a dynamic Q&A led by CEO Dave Doneson, Dr. Dolsten discussed the role of basic science in advancing lifesaving technologies and treatments.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/the-triple-threat-of-coronavirus/
May 12, 2021... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 12, 2021—Severe symptoms of COVID-19, leading often to death, are thought to result from the patient’s own acute immune response rather than from damage inflicted directly by the virus. Intensive research efforts are therefore seeking to determine how the SARS-CoV-2 virus manages to mount an effective invasion while throwing the immune system off course. A new study, published in Nature, reveals a multipronged strategy that the virus employs to ensure its quick and efficient replication, while avoiding detection by the immune system. The study, conducted jointly by the research groups of Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar at the Weizmann Institute of Science and Dr. Nir Paran and Dr. Tomer Israely of the Israel Institute for Biological, Chemical and Environmental Sciences, focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms at work during infection by SARS-CoV-2 at the cellular level.
May 12, 2021...
COVID-19 is so dangerous because the virus uses a three-pronged attack mechanism to stop cells from quickly triggering the immune system, Israeli scientists have concluded.
They offer a portrait of how exactly the SARS-CoV-2 virus behaves once inside human cells — they say it’s the most detailed to date — in an article published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
After hundreds of hours in their labs monitoring the virus interacting with cells, they have concluded that the virus mounts a hostile takeover on the cell’s protein-making machinery, and stops it from making proteins needed to galvanize the immune system.
Aug 09, 2021... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 9, 2021—During the six weeks between the end of the first Covid-19 outbreak in Israel and the beginning of the second one (late April to early June of 2020), researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science initiated a study that sought to assess and understand the mental toll of the pandemic on the country’s adult population. The study included more than 12,000 responses from nearly 5,000 respondents to digital questionnaires.
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