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/strigaway-puts-a-hex-on-witchweed/
Jan 14, 2016... Striga, also known as witchweed, is a parasitic weed that infests up to 50 million hectares of sub-Saharan African land. In Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda alone, striga infests over one million hectares of farmland. The weed causes farmers to lose anywhere from a third to one hundred percent of their staple crops, leading to hunger and financial hardship for as many as 100 million people. Traditional approaches to controlling Striga include crop rotation, intercropping, and various other planting techniques. However, these methods are time-consuming and have limited results, especially for smallholders who make up 70 to 80 percent of the farmers in this region.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-next-agricultural-revolution-is-here/
Sep 19, 2019...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Uplands Farm has a history of ground-breaking plant research and environmental activism.
As a growing population and climate change threaten food security, researchers around the world are working to overcome the challenges that threaten the dietary needs of humans and livestock. A pair of scientists is now making the case that the knowledge and tools exist to facilitate the next agricultural revolution we so desperately need.
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.
Mar 02, 2016...
Some of the Phresh Heroes (Courtesy)
One minute, a piece of fruit or a growing vegetable is alive and growing, but the next – after it’s picked – the process of death and rot begins. Exposed to the atmosphere and the environment, it’s just a matter of time, sometimes days, before mold and decay set in and eventually render produce inedible.
It’s nature’s way, but it’s damned inconvenient for commercial distributors, supermarkets, and consumers. But the “essential oil” protection system developed by Israeli food-tech start-up Phresh Organics can help fruits and vegetables stay fresh for as long as a month and preserve their vitamins, according to company CEO Amit Gal-Or.
Oct 11, 2017... You're not alone! Right now, you've got 100 trillion bacteria living in your digestive system. Most of us are familiar only with these tiny critters' embarrassing habit of releasing smelly gas at the wrong moments, but the truth is, your gut bugs are intimately involved with your weight. There's growing evidence that the right mix of bacteria in your intestines can help you make healthier food choices and stay slim, while the wrong mix encourages weight gain and a taste for junky processed foods.
Aug 23, 2017...
Image via Shutterstock.com
Are you ready for violet-colored potatoes? How about orange tobacco? Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have figured out how produce betalain pigments in plants and flowers that don’t normally have them.
If you’re thinking, “Who needs violet tomatoes?” you should know that red-violet and yellow betalain pigments contain healthful antioxidant properties. They’re also the basis for natural food dyes for products such as strawberry yogurt.
Dec 11, 2012... Despite advances in agriculture, the numbers of the world’s hungry are increasing. The World Health Organization has stated that lack of food is the world’s number one health risk. About 170 million children in impoverished countries are underweight because of lack of food. The “green revolution” of the last century, dependent on pesticides and chemical fertilizers, bypassed many of the world’s poorest farmers — the very people that needed it most. In addition, the pressures on land and water resources created by growing populations in some of the planet’s least-developed regions contribute to the crisis.
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