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/news-releases/profiling-the-covid-19-coronavirus/
Sep 09, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 9, 2020—“Contact tracing” inside infected cells is providing new clues into the workings of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A research team at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Institute for Biological Research, in Ness Ziona, Israel, used the contacts between the virus’s genetic material and the cells’ protein-producing machinery to bring to light details of the viral protein-coding segments and the new – and potentially important – proteins they create. The findings of this research, published in Nature, could lead to better diagnostics or new treatments, and help to explain what makes this virus so skilled in the process of infection.
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 18, 2020... CIEQSFTTLFACQTAAEIWRAFGYTVKIMVDNGNCRLHVC: these forty letters are a set of instructions for building a sophisticated medical device designed to recognize the flu virus in your body. The device latches onto the virus and deactivates the part of it that breaks into your cells. It is impossibly tiny—smaller than the virus on which it operates—and it can be manufactured, in tremendous quantities, by your own cells. It’s a protein.
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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-coronavirus-unveiled/
Oct 09, 2020...
In February, as the new coronavirus swept across China and shut down entire cities, a scientist named Sai Li set out to paint its portrait.
At the time, the best pictures anyone had managed to take were low-resolution images, in which the virus looked like a barely discernible smudge.
Dr. Li, a structural biologist at Tsinghua University in Beijing, joined forces with virologists who were rearing the virus in a biosafety lab in the city of Hangzhou. Those researchers doused the viruses with chemicals to render them harmless and then sent them to Dr. Li.
Oct 15, 2020...
A new questionnaire by the Weizmann Institute of Science could tell you what your chances of having COVID-19 are and help countries decide who to prioritize for testing as testing materials remain hard to get.
The survey was built based on a model detailed in a paper published by researchers from the Weizmann Institute, Rambam Medical Center, Maccabi and Clalit Healthcare Services, King’s College London and Tel Aviv University, among others.
Oct 15, 2020... This crisis has shown me just how fragile our social systems are — from the ways we do business to the ways we interact with family and friends. We’ve seen our world change at a pace we couldn’t have envisioned before this pandemic struck. As a result, I’m more sensitive to how quickly the fabric of our lives can be disrupted. And I’m more keenly aware of how important it is to find solutions before the next major disruption happens. Whether we’re attempting to address climate change, the global energy crisis, or another emerging virus, scientists will, once again, be instrumental in charting the path forward.
Oct 24, 2020...
Most marathoners follow up long training runs with an ice bath and a nap. Gamini Sugathadasa, a bellman at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, runs 20 miles and then spends eight more hours on his feet. According to his fitness tracker, he averages 14,000 steps during a typical shift.
When the hotel closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus, he made up for the steps by pounding out more miles on his treadmill. The concept of a marathon was foreign to Mr. Sugathadasa until 2009, when he was greeting guests who had finished the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon. “I just remember everyone looked so happy,” he says. Intrigued, he left work that day and ran 11 miles. Despite some stiffness, he went out and ran the same distance the following three days. He was a natural.
Nov 16, 2020...
When Mikael Dolsten, the head scientist at Pfizer, heard the news last week that the COVID-19 vaccine that he has been helping to develop for the better part of a year was over 90% effective, he and his colleagues literally leapt with joy at a corporate office in Connecticut.
“This may turn out to be one of the biggest medical advances of the past 100 years,” Dolsten said by Zoom from his home office last week, the emotion clear in his voice and on his face.
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