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.
Oct 29, 2014... Dr. Eran Elinav is a medical doctor as well as a scientist, which makes him ideal to conduct research on gut microbiota and how they impact our health. Dr. Elinav's groundbreaking work to date includes being able to determine how our individual bodies will react to specific foods. His research has tremendous potential for improving our everyday lives, making us fitter, healthier, and happier.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-secret-of-seawater-spines/
Dec 07, 2016...
Soft corals and sea urchins crowd an outcrop off Inner Farne, England. New research revealed that sea urchins get the calcium they need to build hard shells and spines very differently from how scientists theorized in the past. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered how urchins get the calcium they need to build hard shells and spines, possibly altering the way scientists view the process of biomineralization.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-june-2015/
Jun 29, 2015...
Normal human colonic crypts. SMOC-2 expression (red) in the colonic stem cells demonstrates that these cells are localized in the bottoms of the crypts. Bars represent 100 micrometers (left) and 50 micrometers (right)
Recent Weizmann Institute studies are revealing a complex picture of cancer progression in which certain genes that drive tumor growth in the earlier stages get suppressed in later stages – taking a step back to move forward. Published in Oncogene, current research from the lab of Prof. Avri Ben-Ze’ev of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology suggests that the tumor cells at the invasive front of later-stage human colorectal cancer may take an even bigger step back: Some of their gene expression patterns are shared with those of healthy intestinal stem cells.
Jan 05, 2017... It’s All About Balance: Prof. Alon Chen on Stress and the Brain
Jun 26, 2008... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—June 26, 2008—More than 80 years have passed since the German scientist Hans Spemann conducted his famous experiment that laid the foundations for the field of embryonic development. After dividing a salamander embryo in half, Spemann noticed that one half — specifically, the half that gives rise to the salamander’s “belly” (ventral) starts to wither away. However, the other “back” (dorsal) half that develops into its head, brain, and spinal cord, continues to grow, regenerating the missing belly half and develops into a complete, though be it smaller, fully functional embryo. Spemann then conducted another experiment, where this time, he removed a few cells from the back half of one embryo and transplanted them into the belly half of a different embryo. To his surprise, this gave rise to a Siamese twin embryo where an extra head was generated from the transplanted cells. Moreover, although the resulting embryo was smaller than normal, all its tissues and organs developed in the right proportions irrespective of its size, and functioned properly. For this work, Spemann received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/how-to-mix-the-perfect-cocktail/
Dec 07, 2016... Drug cocktails, such as those for treating cancer, are best when the proper ingredients are mixed in the right proportions – just like the alcoholic versions offered at the local bar. And like the cocktails we normally drink, the sum of the parts can be better than the ingredients on their own – or we can be left with unwanted side effects. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), a new model developed in the group of Prof. Uri Alon of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Molecular Cell Biology can simplify the process of identifying the optimal blends for drug cocktails – even when a large number of ingredients is called for.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/visualizing-algae-eating-viruses-from-space/
Aug 23, 2014...
Emiliania huxleyi, up close and personal. Alison R. Taylor, CC BY
Algae isn’t just found in your garden pond or local river. Sometimes it explodes into vast “blooms” far out to sea, that can be the size of a small country. Such algal blooms can match even a rainforest at taking carbon out of the air. And then, in just a week or two, they are gone – sometimes consumed by viruses.
Given the scale of blooms and their vital role in both marine ecology and climate regulation we must know more about these viruses. Research conducted with our Weizmann Institute colleague Yoav Lehahn and others and published in the journal Current Biology, is the first attempt to quantify the affect of viruses on large scale algal blooms.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-september-2015/
Sep 01, 2015...
Tiny sea sapphires’ iridescence, created by a regular array of thin, transparent crystal plates, is also the secret of their “disappearance”
Tiny ocean creatures known as sea sapphires perform a sort of magic trick as they swim: One second they appear in splendid iridescent shades of blue, purple, or green, and the next they may turn invisible (at least the blue ones turn completely transparent). How do they get their bright colors and what enables them to “disappear?” New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science has solved the mystery of these colorful, vanishing creatures, which are known scientifically as Sapphirinidae. The findings, which recently appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could inspire the development of new optical technologies.
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.
May 26, 2016...
A receptor related to stress turns out to be related to eating - in female mice. Credit: Reuters
Studying a protein in the brain that is related to stress may have led to insight on why women are more prone than men to eating disorders.
Granted, the findings at the Weizmann Institute of Science were made on mice, among whom anorexia isn't usually a problem. But the serendipitous discovery may well apply to all mammals.
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