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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-science-of-crying/
Mar 16, 2016...
Michael Trimble, a behavioral neurologist with the unusual distinction of being one of the world’s leading experts on crying, was about to be interviewed on a BBC radio show when an assistant asked him a strange question: How come some people don’t cry at all?
The staffer went on to explain that a colleague of hers insisted he never cries. She’d even taken him to see Les Misérables, certain it would jerk a tear or two, but his eyes stayed dry. Trimble was stumped. He and the handful of other scientists who study human crying tend to focus their research on wet eyes, not dry ones, so before the broadcast began, he set up an email address – nocrying10@gmail.com – and on the air asked listeners who never cry to contact him. Within a few hours, Trimble had received hundreds of messages.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/germs-humans-and-numbers/
Jan 28, 2016... How many microbes inhabit our body on a regular basis? For the last few decades, the most commonly accepted estimate in the scientific world puts that number at around ten times as many bacterial as human cells. In research published today in the journal Cell, a recalculation of that number by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers reveals that the average adult has just under 40 trillion bacterial cells and about 30 trillion human ones, making the ratio much closer to 1:1.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/the-president-s-report-2004/
Sep 01, 2005...
Dear Members of the Weizmann Institute Family,
When friends of the Weizmann Institute—and of Israel—ask me for some good news from our region, I have no difficulty in responding. The irrepressible energy and boundless ingenuity of Israeli inventors and entrepreneurs are there for all to see, but to none are they more evident than to those of us immersed in science and research.
Israel is home today to about 500 communications technology companies, 200 in medical instrumentation, 100 in fabless circuit design plus a number of circuit production giants, and 50 in digital printing and imaging. It has become a veritable superpower in data security, with some major companies in the field and about 80 start-ups. There are hundreds of companies developing an impressive range of programming applications—for trading in foreign currency options, for Internet applications, and a great deal more. In my own field of plant science, the long tradition of Israeli innovation is being carried forward by a growing number of biotechnology companies devoted to advanced crop improvement and the production of plant-derived products. In drug design and development, Teva Pharmaceuticals leads as a major player in the world arena and is Israel's largest and most successful commercial company ever. All this, and more, in a country of less than 6 million people!
Mar 25, 2019...
Illustration by Kanyanat Wongsa/Shutterstock.com
Far more than your alarm clock, what governs your wake-sleep cycle is the internal circadian clock regulating your whole body. This biological timekeeper also affects hunger, thirst, body temperature, mood, hormone fluctuations and more.
Disturbances to the circadian rhythm, or to the genes that produce the rhythm, can cause problems from low productivity and insomnia to depression and diabetes. Some of the most common disturbances are night-shift work, artificial light and travel across time zones.
Dec 19, 2007... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 19, 2007—Prof. Ada Yonath of the Department of Structural Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is among five distinguished women researchers in the life sciences who will receive a L’OREAL-UNESCO Award For Women in Science. Prof. Yonath was recognized for “structural studies of the protein-synthesizing system and the mode of action of antibiotics.” She is the first Israeli to receive the prestigious prize.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/can-boosting-immunity-make-you-smarter/
Feb 12, 2013...
T cells, white blood cells that are a key part of the immune system, may also play an important role in cognitive function. NIBSC/Science Source
After spending a few days in bed with the flu, you may have felt a bit stupid. It is a common sensation, that your sickness is slowing down your brain. At first blush, though, it doesn’t make much sense. For one thing, flu viruses infect the lining of the airways, not the neurons in our brains. For another, the brain is walled off from the rest of the body by a series of microscopic defenses collectively known as the blood-brain barrier. It blocks most viruses and bacteria while allowing essential molecules like glucose to slip through. What ails the body, in other words, shouldn’t interfere with our thinking.But over the past decade, Jonathan Kipnis, a neuroimmunologist in the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s department of neuroscience, has discovered a possible link, a modern twist on the age-old notion of the body-mind connection. His research suggests that the immune system engages the brain in an intricate dialogue that can influence our thought processes, coaxing our brains to work at their best.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/stem-cells-changing-fast/
Aug 27, 2014... Stem cell research is one of the fastest-moving fields of science today, with new findings coming one after another. At the Weizmann Institute of Science, in just the past several months alone researchers have discovered important new information about how stem cells grow, differentiate, and can be reprogrammed. Such achievements are the outcome of scientific curiosity, ingenuity, and endurance, as well as support provided by farsighted donors.
Mar 19, 2020... In this videoconference, the Weizmann Institute’s Dr. Ron Diskin of the Department of Structural Biology, an expert in animal-borne viruses such as coronavirus, shares his insights on the current pandemic. A Q&A session with participants follows.
Jun 10, 2015...
Bifidobacteria, a type of gut bacterium. Researchers believe that the different types of gut microbes found in individuals has a significant impact on how their bodies respond to food. Photograph: Phototake Inc./Alamy
Scientists have created bespoke diets using a computer algorithm that learns how individual bodies respond to different foods.
Researchers believe the tailored diets could help stem the rising tide of diabetes, heart disease and obesity, by personalising people’s daily meals and so helping them to adopt healthy eating habits.
Apr 12, 2007... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—April 11, 2007—Muscle fibers are large cells that contain many nuclei. They begin, like all animal cells, as naive embryonic cells. These cells differentiate, producing intermediate cells called myoblasts that are now destined to become muscle. New myoblasts then seek out other myoblasts, and when they find each other, they stick together like best friends. In the final stage of muscle fiber development, the cell membranes of attached myoblasts open up and fuse together, forming one large, unified cell.
©2023 American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
