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.
Oct 07, 2019...
Transplanting vaginal fluids from one woman to another could help tackle severe cases of a common bacterial condition, a study has suggested.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is thought to affect up to a third of women of reproductive age. It is caused when the balance of microbes in the vagina – known as the vaginal microbiome – becomes disturbed, with a drop in lactobacilli while other bacteria take over.
Oct 02, 2019... Many expectant mothers are told that breastfeeding will come naturally, but it is often a fraught and confusing experience, especially during the first few weeks after birth. Parents often worry about if their babies are getting enough nutrition or if they are producing enough milk. MyMilk Labs wants to give nursing mothers more information with Mylee, a sensor that scans a few drops of breast milk to get information about its composition and connects to a mobile app. The Israel-based company presented today at Disrupt Battlefield as one of two wild card competitors picked from Startup Alley.
Nov 06, 2019...
Computer-enhanced MRI images of the brains of left-handed women identified two that were missing olfactory bulbs
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—November 6, 2019—Is a pair of brain structures called the olfactory bulbs, which are said to encode our sense of smell, necessary? That is, are they essential to the existence of this sense? Weizmann Institute of Science researchers recently showed that some humans can smell just fine, thank you, without said bulbs. Their finding – that around 0.6% of women, and more specifically, up to 4% of left-handed women, have completely intact senses of smell despite having no olfactory bulbs in their brains – calls into question the accepted notion that this structure is absolutely necessary for the act of smelling. The findings of this research, which were published in Neuron, could shake up certain conventional theories that describe the workings of our sense of smell.
Feb 24, 2020... Think about the last time you had a cold. Think how weird it felt to not be able to smell or taste anything just because your nose was clogged up. That is, to an extent, the life of people with anosmia: the term for not being able to smell. Some patients are born with it. For others, it is the result of a neurological diseases, and for others still, it comes from a surgery that removed or damaged the olfactory bulb (OB). For a long time, it was believed that without an OB, a person would not be able to smell, but a team of researchers in Israel found patients who might prove that notion wrong.
Mar 09, 2020...
JERUSALEM, Feb. 24 (Xinhua)— Israeli scientists found that short-term acute inflammation in the mother's body during pregnancy can cause autism to the embryo, said Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in central Israel on Monday.
Signs of autism usually appear around two or three years old, but it is considered a neurodevelopmental disease, which suggests that changes could already be “brewing” in the embryonic brain.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/meet-16-women-breaking-barriers-in-israel/
Mar 09, 2020...
On March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. And over here at ISRAEL21c, we’re taking the opportunity to introduce and celebrate 16 Israeli women from all walks of life who challenge stereotypes in the most inspiring ways. Ladies, you rock.
Prof. Ada Yonath is a true groundbreaker. A biochemist, she won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2009, becoming not only the first Israeli woman to win the prestigious award but also the first woman in 45 years to receive it in her field.
Oct 16, 2019...
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and people across the world are helping raise awareness and support through runs, walks, events – and, at the Weizmann Institute of Science, through research.
Before breakthroughs in breast cancer research ever appear in the news or on the market, there are cadres of scientists working tirelessly to discover new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat this all-too-common disease. Here are some of our advances over just the past year:
Aug 26, 2019... Eliana had a rarefied summer working in the Boris Rybtchinski Lab in the Department of Organic Chemistry at Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. “My research is in the ‘sustainable nanomaterials’ portion of what the lab does. We combine carbon nanotubes with organic dye nanocrystals to produce a hybrid nanocomposite in the form of a thin film that is electrically conductive and mechanically robust.” These films can be deposited on many surfaces and used as electrodes in energy storage devices. “I worked on a method which recycles the excess dye and solvent in order to make it more environmentally friendly when taken to industrial manufacturing.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/left-handed-women-s-quirk-over-sense-of-smell/
Nov 07, 2019...
Image via Shutterstock
Scientists say they have discovered a biological anomaly that could change how we understand our sense of smell.
The study in the journal Neuron shows some people can smell normally, despite missing the part of the brain that is considered to be crucial for smell - the olfactory bulbs.
Lacking bulbs should cause anosmia (being unable to smell).
Curiously, the phenomenon mostly affects left-handed women, and has never been detected in men.
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