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.
Nov 30, 2014...
Graduate students Eyal Karzbrun and Alexandra Tayar with Prof. Roy Bar-Ziv. Photo courtesy of Weizmann Institute
Years of intense lab work in Israel have led to the world’s first artificial cell-on-a-chip, an exciting development with many potential applications.
“The idea to mimic a living cell is a longstanding dream shared by many,” Weizmann Institute of Science Prof. Roy Bar-Ziv tells ISRAEL21c. “If we can build a primitive model of something so complex, we can possibly understand the dynamics of protein synthesis better.”
Sep 12, 2019...
Prof. Yardena Samuels
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 12, 2019—Diversity – at least among cancer cells – is not a good thing. Now, research from the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that in melanoma, tumors with cells that have differentiated into more diverse subtypes are less likely to be affected by the immune system, thus reducing the chance that immunotherapy will be effective. The findings of this research, which were published in Cell, may provide better tools for designing personalized protocols for cancer patients, as well as pointing toward new avenues of research into anti-cancer vaccines.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/making-spines-from-sea-water/
Nov 30, 2016... Some sea creatures cover themselves with hard shells and spines, while vertebrates build skeletons out of the same minerals. How do these animals get the calcium they need to build these strong mineral structures? Profs. Lia Addadi and Steve Weiner of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Structural Biology asked this question about sea urchins, which need to extract quite a few calcium ions from sea water in order to build their spines. The answer surprised the two – and it could change the way scientists think about the process of biomineralization.
Oct 02, 2019...
The lungs of a mouse with untreated Ewing sarcoma (left) contain numerous tumor cells (shown by luminescent colors) that have spread from the bone; the lungs of a mouse treated with a drug reducing the synthesis of glucocorticoids are almost free from the sarcoma (right)
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—October 2, 2019—Ewing sarcoma is a bone cancer that appears mainly in teenagers. Caused by a single defective gene, once it spreads to distant organs it is hard to treat. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now discovered molecular interactions underlying Ewing sarcomas and proposed a potential treatment that has shown promise in a study in mice. These findings were published in Cell Reports.
Jul 20, 2010...
Click here to listen to the Science Signaling podcast with Prof. Mike Fainzilber.
Participants: Mike Fainzilber and Annalisa M. VanHook
A conversation about a research article published in the 13 July 2010 issue of Science Signaling.
Highlighted article:
I. Michaelevski, Y. Segal-Ruder, M. Rozenbaum, K. F. Medzihradszky, O. Shalem, G. Coppola, S. Horn-Saban, K. Ben-Yaakov, S. Y. Dagan, I. Rishal, D. H. Geschwind, Y. Pilpel, A. L. Burlingame, M. Fainzilber, Signaling to Transcription Networks in the Neuronal Retrograde Injury Response. Sci. Signal. 3, ra53 (2010).
Dec 26, 2011... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 26, 2011—A team of Weizmann Institute of Science researchers has turned the tables on an autoimmune disease. In such diseases, including Crohn’s and rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s tissues. But the scientists managed to trick the immune systems of mice into targeting one of the body’s players in autoimmune processes, an enzyme known as MMP9. The results of their research appear in Nature Medicine.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/could-lowering-oxygen-levels-reduce-jet-lag/
Oct 28, 2016...
Jet lag is a familiar hazard for those who take long flights. Now, it turns out, the remedy may be in the very air we breathe.
Scientists in Israel (with help from a colleague in the U.K.) have found that reducing atmospheric oxygen levels shaved days off the time that mice took to adjust to a big time shift. This suggests that it may someday be possible to offer travelers a low-oxygen lounge, or even lower the oxygen in baggage-claim areas, to help travelers combat discombobulation.
Sep 06, 2017...
A process called droplet microfluidics isolates thousands of cells in microscopic water droplets allowing up-close analysis of genetic material. Credit: Dr Linas Mazutis
It is nearly 350 years since scientists first discovered that our bodies are made up of tiny building blocks known as cells. Today we still know very little about their nature, but if we did, we could better understand how our bodies work, how diseases afflict us and how we age.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/why-the-diet-on-your-soda-may-be-misleading/
Sep 17, 2014...
The artificial sweeteners found in the world’s most popular diet sodas may have a serious unintended consequence, according to a new study.
Calorie counters beware: That diet soda and your own stomach may be conspiring against you.
A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature suggests that consuming artificial sweeteners may increase the risk of elevated blood sugar levels.
When researchers added popular sweeteners – including saccharin and aspartame – to the diets of mice, the balance of bacteria in the gut shifted and blood sugar levels spiked. Similar results occurred in a subset of humans during a follow-up trial.
Jun 22, 2011...
Researchers studying autistic toddlers have discovered their brain activity appears to be out of sync at a very early stage – a finding that sheds light on the biology of the condition and might help in earlier diagnosis.
In research published in the journal Neuron, scientists in Israel used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to look at the brains of sleeping toddlers and found that certain types of neural activity are disrupted in autistic children, but not in typical children or in others with delayed language development.
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