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/blog/scientists-inspiring-scientists-with-cartoons/
Oct 25, 2018...
“Still life: mouse with T-body.” A work by Zelig Eshhar, scientist and cartoonist. From A Cure Within: Scientists Unleashing the Immune System to Kill Cancer, Neil Canavan
The Weizmann Institute is rightly proud of its scientists’ creativity. It is actively encouraged, and has led to many important advances and partnerships (research projects and jazz combos alike). And recently, our Prof. Zelig Eshhar inspired other immunologists with a sketch on a bit of paper.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-november-2007/
Nov 26, 2007...
Some people are oblivious to the odor in the locker room after a game, while others wrinkle their noses at the slightest whiff of sweat. Research by Prof. Doron Lancet and research student Idan Menashe of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Molecular Genetics Department, which appeared recently in PLoS Biology, has now shown that this difference is at least partly genetic.
Our sense of smell often takes a back seat to our other senses, but humans can perceive up to 10,000 different odors. Like mice, which boast a highly developed sense of smell, we have about 1,000 different genes for the smell-detecting receptors in our olfactory 'retinas.' In humans, however, over half of these genes have, in the last few million years, become defunct — some in all people, while others in just parts of the population.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/how-a-bacterial-cell-recognizes-its-own-dna/
Apr 13, 2015...
Image of a phage, an invasive virus that attacks bacteria.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—April 13, 2015—It may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that bacteria have an immune system – in their case, to fight off invasive viruses called phages. And like any immune system – from single-celled to human – the first challenge of the bacterial immune system is to detect the difference between “foreign” and “self.” This is far from simple, as viruses and bacteria – in fact, all living things – are made of DNA and proteins. A group of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science and Tel Aviv University has now revealed exactly how bacteria do this. Their results were published online in Nature on April 13.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/could-this-be-the-fountain-of-youth/
Jan 01, 2019...
There are certain proteins in the body that can fuel ageing cells, allowing them to thrive. A team in Israel gave mice a drug that blocked that protein, and left them more youthful
A drug that helps the immune system clear away old cells could restore youthfulness, according to a new study.
The research suggests it may be possible to reverse the ageing process and could potentially pave the way for anti-ageing treatments that actually work.
Feb 05, 2017... An innovative protective suit against cosmic rays developed by Israeli startup StemRad is set to head for outer space. The Israel Space Agency and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Space today signed an agreement with the German Aerospace Center for launching the Israeli company’s innovative suit as part of the next trial flight of NASA's Orion satellite. The company’s suit is designed for the first manned flight by Orion to Mars planned by NASA.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/stopping-disease-with-smarter-vaccines/
Aug 13, 2018...
The Weizmann Institute of Science pursues a host of health and medicine research, finding ways to understand and treat diseases large and small. But what if, instead of fighting an illness after it strikes, we could prevent it in the first place?
Several of Weizmann’s creative, innovative scientists are aiming to do just that by developing vaccines that target conditions from the flu to the aging brain:
Feb 13, 2017...
A cross-section of a mouse liver lobule under a fluorescence microscope. The middle layer reveals an abundance of messenger RNA molecules (white dots) for the gene encoding hepcidin, the iron-regulating hormone
If you get up in the morning feeling energetic and clearheaded, you can thank your liver for manufacturing glucose before breakfast time. Among a host of other vital functions, it also clears our body of toxins and produces most of the carrier proteins in our blood. In a study reported recently in Nature, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers showed that the liver’s amazing multitasking capacity is due at least in part to a clever division of labor among its cells.
Jan 20, 2017...
FLICKR, NATURALISMIS
The viruses that attack Bacillus subtilis may decide whether to kill or simply infect their hosts through quorum sensing, according to study published this week (January 18) in Nature. Researchers isolated the peptide that the viruses appear to be using to communicate, and named it “arbitrium.” If confirmed, the results of the study would be the first description of a molecular communication system between viruses, and potentially open the door to therapies that target the viral communication system.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/2010-young-innovators-under-35-jacob-hanna/
Aug 01, 2010...
Jacob Hanna, 30
Whitehead Institute
Reprogramming cells to cure diseases
Mere months after Kyoto University researchers announced in 2007 that they had discovered how to turn skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), Jacob Hanna used these new types of cells to cure mice of sickle-cell anemia, in which a genetic defect causes bone marrow to make defective red blood cells. Hanna, a fellow at the Whitehead Institute, took skin cells from a diseased mouse and reprogrammed them create iPS cells, which behave like embryonic stem cells, readily turning into any cell type in the body. He then corrected the sickle-cell genetic defect and prodded the iPS cells to develop into the type of marrow stem cell that manufactures a mouse’s blood cells. These healthy cells were transplanted back into the mouse, whose immune system accepted them as the animal's own tissue. The treated mouse began producing healthy red blood cells on its own.
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.
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