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.
Oct 15, 2019...
Your body is composed of about 10 million human cells. It’s also home to about 100 trillion tiny microbes, mainly bacteria, that wield astonishing power over your health.
Many influences, from genetics, to diet and stress, contribute to the makeup of your microbiome — the collective community of microbes as personal as a fingerprint.
Understanding, manipulating and balancing the microbiome could play an increasing role in preventing and curing diseases.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/viruses-overheard-talking-to-one-another/
Jan 18, 2017...
Prof. Rotem Sorek uncovered a virus code
Viruses may be stealthy invaders, but a study at the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals a new, chatty side of some: for the first time, viruses have been found communicating with one another. This communication – short “posts” left for kin and descendants – helps the viruses reading them to decide how to proceed with the process of infection. The research was reported in Nature.
Feb 28, 2018...
ISTOCK, CHRISCHRISW
Environment plays a much greater role than host genetics in determining the composition of the human gut microbiome, according to a study published today (February 28) in Nature. And including microbiome characteristics when predicting people’s traits, such as cholesterol levels or obesity, makes those estimates more accurate than only personal history, such as diet, age, gender, and quality of life, the study finds.
May 14, 2018...
Students at Israel’s Hakfar Hayarok International School preparing bacteria experiments. Photo courtesy of Weizmann Institute of Science
The 6,000 miles between them made no difference when 200 students in Israel and in the Boston area jointly created evolution in test tubes. The 10-day science experiment helped them understand how antibiotic-resistant bacterial “superbugs” evolve.
The teens designed their experiments on Google Sheets, and these instructions were automatically carried out by a robot in a lab at the University of Massachusetts.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/an-inside-look-at-probiotics/
Sep 06, 2018...
Prof. Eran Elinav, left, and Prof. Eran Segal
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 6, 2018—Every day, millions of people take probiotics – preparations containing live bacteria that are meant to fortify their immune systems, prevent disease, or repair the adverse effects of antibiotics. Yet the benefits of probiotics have not really been medically proven. It is not even clear if probiotic bacteria really colonize the digestive tract or, if they do, what effects the colonies have on humans and their microbiomes – the native bacteria in their guts. Now, in two back-to-back reports published in Cell, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science show – in both mice and in humans – that a preparation of 11 strains of the most widely used probiotic families may sometimes be less than beneficial for the user and their microbiome.
Nov 02, 2016...
“The composition of intestinal bacteria affects the decisions made by our brain. The more I learned about intestinal bacteria, the more it kept me awake at night,” says DayTwo founder and CEO Lihi Segal. Her company is using the breakthrough science of intestinal bacteria for commercial purposes.
The composition of intestinal bacteria is set in most people by age 2, and thereafter changes only slightly. DayTwo’s technology is based on research at the Weizmann Institute led by Prof. Eran Segal and Dr. Eran Elinav, which was first reported in “Globes” in 2013. This research showed that the composition of intestinal bacteria, which is unique for each person, has a differential impact on how that person responds to certain food, and specifically on his blood sugar levels. Eating a banana might greatly increase the blood sugar level for one person with a certain intestinal bacteria composition and eating an apple would not, while another person might have opposite responses to the two fruits.
Feb 27, 2017...
A healthy community of microbes in the gut maintains regular daily cycles of activities. PHOTO: WEIZMANN INSTITUTE
New research is helping to unravel the mystery of how disruptions to the bacteria in our gut, caused by an unhealthy diet or irregular sleep, can lead to a number of diseases.
Such research could someday result in new treatments for obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions by restoring the health of the gut-microbe community, known as the microbiota. Researchers are exploring how to do this through individualized diets and mealtimes or other interventions.
Sep 14, 2017...
Bacteria, in green, inside a pancreatic cancer cell
Cancers have unwitting allies: the healthy cells that surround them. Several groups of scientists have now found that normal cells can inadvertently release substances that shield their malignant neighbors from anticancer drugs. That would explain why even targeted therapies—smart drugs that are meant to hit the specific genetic faults behind various cancers—sometimes stumble right out of the gate. When pitted against isolated cancer cells in laboratory tests, they perform as expected. But when pitted against actual tumors, which enjoy a kind of innate resistance because of the healthy cells around them, the drugs can fail.
Jan 28, 2010...
Alone they may be ineffective, but used together two common antibiotics could fight off deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs, according to a team of Israeli and American researchers.
Two pills are better than one: Israeli Prof. Ada Yonath and her researchers have discovered that a combination of two antibiotics can fight antibiotic resistant diseases.
Researchers from Israel and the US have discovered that two marginally useful antibiotics working together could be more effective in fighting off today’s deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs than either drug working alone.
Oct 04, 2012...
A bacterium that some scientists thought could use arsenic in place of phosphorus in its DNA actually goes to extreme lengths to grab any traces of phosphorus it can find.
The finding clears up a lingering question sparked by a controversial study, published in Science in 2010, which claimed that the GFAJ-1 microbe could thrive in the high-arsenic conditions of Mono Lake in California without metabolizing phosphorus — an element that is essential for all forms of life.
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