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.
Apr 16, 2020... Immunologist Dr. Ziv Shulman is looking for antibodies to COVID by studying patients who have recovered from the virus. His work is “in a very exciting stage,” as he is now producing antibodies in the lab.
Apr 22, 2020... As he discusses in this video, Prof. Sarel Fleishman of the Department of Biomolecular Sciences is supporting multiple lines of coronavirus research at Weizmann – including his own.
May 14, 2020...
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. And one important fact to be aware of is that the most common skin cancers, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, aren’t the ones that kill.
The least common variety, melanoma, causes most skin-cancer deaths because it quickly spreads (metastasizes) to other parts of the body.
That’s why many researchers around the world focus on melanoma, so-called because it starts in melanocyte cells that give skin its color.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/paying-the-price-of-protection/
May 19, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 19, 2020—Is the wanton killing of cells in autoimmune disease a case of mistaken identity, or does it arise from an important physiological service? The first is the commonly accepted view – that autoimmune attack is a sort of mistake. But the latter view may be closer to the truth, according to a new model proposed by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Among other things, the model suggests a solution to the long-standing riddle of why some organs are susceptible to autoimmune diseases while others are not. The findings were published in the journal Immunity.
May 26, 2020...
Israeli researchers say they have found that autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes or thyroid dysfunctions, are generated by immune cells that become overzealous in their protective mission and end up causing harm — and they created a mathematical model that demonstrates this.
In a study published in Immunity, scientists at Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, decided to find out why some organs are susceptible to autoimmune diseases while others are not. For example, the thyroid gland is often attacked by the autoimmune disease thyroiditis — an inflammation of the thyroid gland that can cause fatigue, weight gain, confusion and depression — while other organs, like the parathyroid gland, in charge of regulating the amount of calcium in the blood and bones, are almost never hit by autoimmune diseases.
Aug 10, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 10, 2020—Invading cells’ private space – prying into their internal functions, decisions, and communications – could be a powerful tool that may help researchers develop new immunotherapy treatments for cancer. As reported in Cell, a research group at the Weizmann Institute of Science have developed a technology enabling them to see inside tens of thousands of individual cells, at once, in greater detail than ever before.
Sep 10, 2020...
A novel treatment for Alzheimer’s, developed by one of Israel’s top scientists, is preparing to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial and, if successful, it could change the course of the disease and arrest its progression.
The therapy, developed by ImmunoBrain Checkpoint and based on 20 years of work by Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute of Science demonstrating that the immune system is needed for the maintenance of healthy brain function and repair, would contribute to the understanding of the biology of Alzheimer’s disease.
Sep 16, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 16, 2020—By tracking the evolution of what may be our oldest means of fighting off viral infection, a group at the Weizmann Institute of Science has uncovered a gold mine of antiviral substances that may lead to the development of highly effective antiviral drugs. These substances are made by virus-fighting enzymes known as viperins, which were previously known to exist only in mammals and have now been found in bacteria. The molecules produced by the bacterial viperins are currently undergoing testing against human viruses such as influenza and COVID-19. The study was published in Nature.
Sep 17, 2020...
Virus-fighting enzymes, known as viperins, which have been previously thought to exist only in mammals, have been also detected in bacteria and are being tried against human viruses, including the coronavirus, according to a new study led by a team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was published in the leading scientific magazine Nature.
The team, led by Professor Rotem Sorek from the Molecular Genetics Department in the institute, discovered that bacteria produce a large variety of antiviral substances that have the potential to help fighting viral diseases.
Sep 15, 2020...
Israeli researchers say they have taken a stride forward in efforts to “understand the enemy” in the hope of subduing it, after identifying four previously unknown proteins that people produce as a result of coronavirus infection.
They have also identified 19 peptides, short chains of amino acids, that had not previously been identified in the bodies of infected people.
“We now know the enemy better,” Noam Stern-Ginossar, a scientist behind the peer-reviewed study just published in Nature, told The Times of Israel.
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