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 future of humanity.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/insulin-making-cells-discovered-in-the-fetal-gut/
Dec 09, 2021... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 9, 2021—An exclusive “license” for making insulin in the human body belongs to the beta cells scattered throughout the pancreas. But because beta cells can become scarce or dysfunctional in people with diabetes, scientists have been searching for other cells that might be coaxed into manufacturing the vital glucose-regulating hormone. In a study published today in Nature Medicine, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science and from Yale School of Medicine discovered insulin-making cells in an unexpected place, the fetal intestine. This discovery may open up new directions in the future development of potential treatments for diabetes.
Dec 18, 2023... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 19, 2023 — For decades, it has been known that people with diabetes are at a substantially increased risk of developing severe lung disease if they become infected with viruses such as influenza, as well as with bacteria or fungi. When the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020, this mysterious phenomenon took on even greater importance: It became clear that people with diabetes were at significantly higher risk of severe – or even fatal – lung disease after becoming seriously ill from the virus. In fact, 35% of people with COVID-19 who died during the pandemic had diabetes, but no one understood why.