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 20, 2010... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—April 19, 2010—The constant stress that many are exposed to in our modern society may be taking a heavy toll: Anxiety disorders and depression, as well as metabolic (substance exchange) disorders, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and arteriosclerosis, have all been linked to stress. These problems are reaching epidemic proportions: Diabetes alone is expected to affect some 360 million people worldwide by the year 2030. While anyone who has ever gorged on chocolate before an important exam recognizes the tie between stress, changes in appetite, and anxiety-related behavior, the connection has lately been borne out by science, although the exact reasons for the connection aren't crystal clear. Dr. Alon Chen of the Weizmann Institute's Department of Neurobiology and his research team have now discovered that changes in the activity of a single gene in the brain not only cause mice to exhibit anxious behavior, but also lead to metabolic changes that cause them to develop symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes. These findings were published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/november-is-american-diabetes-month/
Nov 01, 2017... As we enter a time of year abundant with food-centric holidays and gatherings, it can be helpful to pause for a moment to think about how we eat – and how much. We all know that overeating and consuming unhealthy foods often leads to obesity, which often leads to diabetes – frequently as part of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions comprised of four interrelated illnesses: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. But despite this awareness, diabetes rates keep soaring worldwide. In the U.S. alone, reports the American Diabetes Association, more than 29 million of us have the disease – that’s 1 in 11 people. Even more alarming is that 86 million Americans have prediabetes, meaning that 1 in 3 are on the verge of becoming diabetic.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/artificial-sweeteners-may-lead-to-diabetes/
Sep 18, 2014...
Artificial sweeteners may set the stage for diabetes in some people by hampering the way their bodies handle sugar, according to results of a study released Wednesday by the journal "Nature."(Photo: Jenny Kane, AP)
Reaching for artificial sweeteners to avoid sugar may be trading one evil for another, a new study suggests.
For some people, artificial sweeteners may lead to type 2 diabetes as directly as eating sugar does, according to the research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Nov 30, 2016... Here’s a reason not to peel tomatoes: A new method of plant analysis, developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, has identified healthful antioxidants in tomato skins. In fact, as reported recently in Nature Communications, the new method reveals that biologically active plant substances typically associated with particular plant species – including those providing health benefits – are much more prevalent across the plant kingdom than was previously thought.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/receptive-to-stress/
May 26, 2016...
The CRFR1 receptor is used only in stressful situations
How does stress – which, among other things, causes our bodies to divert resources from non-essential functions – affect the basic exchange of materials that underlies our everyday life? Weizmann Institute of Science researchers investigated this question by looking at a receptor in the brains of mice, and they came up with a surprising answer. The findings, which recently appeared in Cell Metabolism, may in the future aid in developing better drugs for stress-related problems and eating disorders.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/artificial-sweeteners-hit-a-sour-note/
Sep 30, 2014...
Artificial sweeteners have long been promoted as "better" for us – diet sodas help us stay slim, sugar-free cookies provide a treat for diabetics. But breaking research from the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Dr. Eran Elinav and Prof. Eran Segal has dropped a bomb on such thinking: in fact, they say, artificial sweeteners may even be causing the very conditions they were presumed to prevent.
Dr. Elinav and Prof. Segal are scaling up their Personalized Nutrition Project, which aims to precisely measure how we as individuals process and metabolize food. While studying artificial sweeteners, they found that even though such products are not digested, they are detected by our trillions of gut bacteria. These bacteria, in turn, may trigger metabolic changes that have a number of negative health effects, such as increasing blood sugar.
Nov 05, 2018...
In 2017, the CDC reported that “more than 100 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes,” and that it was the seventh leading cause of death in 2015. And as Western diets and lifestyles spread around the world, so does diabetes.
Nutrition aside, the disease has a number of complex causes – yet treatment consists only of insulin and glucose-level management. That’s why Weizmann Institute of Science researchers in a range of disciplines are working to understand the developmental, genetic, immunological, and environmental contributors to diabetes. Given the potential impact of this work on public health, the scientists regularly collaborate with clinicians in order to bring their findings to the patient.
Sep 17, 2014...
Electron microscope image of a healthy mouse small intestine showing bacteria (strings) surrounding the gut villi (protrusions). A human small intestine looks very similar.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 17, 2014—Artificial sweeteners – promoted as aids to weight loss and diabetes prevention – could actually hasten the development of glucose intolerance and metabolic disease, and they do so in a surprising way: by changing the composition and function of the gut microbiota – the substantial population of bacteria residing in our intestines. These findings, the results of experiments in mice and humans, were published September 17 in Nature. Dr. Eran Elinav of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Immunology, who led this research together with Prof. Eran Segal of the Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, says that the widespread use of artificial sweeteners in drinks and food, among other things, may be contributing to the obesity and diabetes epidemic that is sweeping much of the world.
Dec 26, 2017...
A Year of Wonder
1. Compound kills energy generating system of cancer
An Israeli researcher devised a synthetic compound to disable the enzymes that allow cancer cells to metastasize.
When cancer cells leave the primary tumor and spread to other organs, they reprogram their energy-generating system in order to survive in harsh conditions with a shortage of nutrients like glucose.
Prof. Uri Nir of Bar-Ilan University identified an enzyme called FerT in the energy-generating mitochondria of metastatic cancer cells – an enzyme normally only found in sperm cells (which need to function outside the body they came from). When he targeted FerT in lab mice, the malignant cells soon died.
Jul 21, 2019...
Some people are morning exercisers. For them, an early run or swim is as much a part of their wake-up ritual as that first cup of coffee. Others can’t abide the idea. They need a nighttime workout to rid themselves of the day’s stresses.
Does it make a difference? Several recent studies suggest that it does. But it’s complicated.
One recent paper indicates that morning exercise may activate certain genes in the muscle cells, boosting their ability to metabolize sugar and fat. While scientists say this finding requires further study, they think it ultimately might help those who are overweight or suffering from Type 2 diabetes.
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