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.
Jun 29, 2012...
You’d be amazed at how much you can learn from a plant.
In a paper published this week in the journal Science, a Michigan State University professor and a colleague discuss why if humans are to survive as a species, we must turn more to plants for any number of valuable lessons.
“Metabolism of plants provides humans with fiber, fuel, food and therapeutics,” said Robert Last, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. “As the human population grows and nonrenewable energy sources diminish, we need to rely increasingly on plants and to increase the sustainability of agriculture.”
Jan 05, 2017... Life in a Drop of Water: Prof. Assaf Vardi and Nivi Alroy on Oceanic Plants
Jan 22, 2019...
Arabidopsis thaliana, a member of the mustard family
Plants have control mechanisms that resemble those in human senses. According to a new Weizmann Institute of Science study, plants adjust their photosynthesis to rapid light changes using a sophisticated sensing system, much in the way that the human eye responds to variations in light intensity. This sensory-like regulation operates at low light intensities, when the photosynthesis machinery is most efficient but also most vulnerable to sudden light increases.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/this-cotton-is-grown-to-glow/
Sep 14, 2017...
Cotton fibers modified to glow under ultraviolet light. (Filipe Natalio)
Seven or eight thousand years ago, humans figured out that the natural fibers cotton plants produce could be spun into strands and woven into fabric. During the Industrial Revolution and after, it became one of the world’s most valuable commodities—and helped drive the slave trade in the Americas and Europe.
Cotton is great. It's soft and light and durable enough. It’s pretty warm and dries pretty fast. But is that really all it can do for us? Filipe Natalio, a chemist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, thinks cotton can do better.
Jul 01, 2002... Rehovot, Israel—July 1, 2002—Corn harvests on experimental plots and in farmers' fields in four East and Southern African countries have yielded striking results in long-term trials of an innovative witchweed-fighting technology developed by a Weizmann Institute scientist in collaboration with researchers at CIMMYT (the Spanish acronym for The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center). The new technology will be presented to seed producers, government representatives, regional scientists, and regulatory agencies at a CIMMYT-sponsored meeting in Kisumu, Kenya, on July 4–6, 2002.
Nov 30, 2017... Unlocking the Potential of Metabolites: The Schwartz Family Center for Metabolic Biology
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/a-plankton-virus-affects-cloud-formation/
Aug 16, 2018...
The phytoplankton species Emiliana huxleyi, coming soon to a cloud near you. Citation: Emiliania huxleyi. Young & Westbroek, 1991
A species of marine phytoplankton that explodes after contracting a virus may play a role in regulating Earth’s climate, a new study finds.
Emiliania huxleyi is a type of single-celled plant-like organism called a coccolithophore that occurs ubiquitously in the world’s oceans. Under the right conditions, it multiplies rapidly to form giant aggregations, known as blooms, up to several thousand square kilometres in size.
May 28, 2020...
California's giant Sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years, their trunks stretching two car lengths in diameter, their branches reaching nearly 300 feet toward the clouds. But a few years ago, amid a record drought, scientists noticed something odd. A few of these arboreal behemoths inside Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks were dying in ways no one had ever documented—from the top down.
When researchers climbed into the canopies, they discovered that cedar bark beetles had bored into a few branches. By 2019, at least 38 of the trees had died—not a large number, but “concerning because we’ve never observed this before,” says Christy Brigham, the park’s chief of resource management.
Jul 01, 2020...
Israeli researchers have discovered collaboration between trees deep in the ground, Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in central Israel said Wednesday.
In their study, WIS researchers found underground intricate networks of fungi connecting the roots of different tree species with one another.
These networks enable the trees to exchange of minerals, nutrients, water and carbon, while funneling carbon to the fungi in return.
Sep 20, 2020...
The Israeli company Phytolon, which is known for developing a fermentation-based technology for the production of plant-based food colors, announced on Thursday that it has secured $4.1 million from various companies and investors.
Some of the companies and investors providing the funding include major companies such as Millennium Food-Tech, EIT Food, Consensus Business Group, The Trendlines Group and also the Israel Innovation Authority. Phytolon's innovative products utilizes scientific advancement in biotechnology to produce natural food colors that are more environmentally sustainable, driven by the fact that consumers are seeking healthier food colors to replace synthetic ones.
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