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.
Jul 22, 2019...
When immune cells (macrophage, blue) meet bacteria (red), the first day or two is critical for the eventual outcome
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—July 22, 2019—First impressions are important – they can set the stage for the entire course of a relationship. The same is true for the impressions the cells of our immune system form when they first meet a new bacterium. Using this insight, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have developed an algorithm that may predict the onset of diseases such as tuberculosis. The findings of this research were published in Nature Communications.
https://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.
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.
Apr 24, 2018...
Neuroscientist Michael Heneka knows that radical ideas require convincing data. In 2010, very few colleagues shared his belief that the brain’s immune system has a crucial role in dementia. So in May of that year, when a batch of new results provided the strongest evidence he had yet seen for his theory, he wanted to be excited, but instead felt nervous.
He and his team had eliminated a key inflammation gene from a strain of mouse that usually develops symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The modified mice seemed perfectly healthy. They sailed through memory tests and showed barely a sign of the sticky protein plaques that are a hallmark of the disease. Yet Heneka knew that his colleagues would consider the results too good to be true.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/blood-test-for-alzheimer-s/
Feb 04, 2013...
A simple blood test could be on the way for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. Image via Shutterstock.com*
“Today one of the main weaknesses in the Alzheimer’s area is that patients don’t find out until it’s too late,” says Ilya Budik, CEO of NeuroQuest, an Israeli company developing a novel blood test for early detection of the most common cause of dementia worldwide.
“There are many new therapies under development, and the most successful trials are showing the earlier a patient is treated, the better likelihood of responding to the treatment,” he says.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/science-tips-december-2011/
Dec 01, 2011... Less and less of today’s computing is done on desktop computers; cloud computing, in which operations are carried out on a network of shared, remote servers, is expected to rise as the demand for computing power increases. This raises some crucial questions about security: Can we, for instance, perform computations on data stored in “the cloud” without letting anyone else see our information? Research carried out at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is moving us closer to the ability to work on data while it is still encrypted, giving an encrypted result that can later be securely deciphered.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/an-immune-system-trained-to-kill-cancer/
Sep 13, 2011...
CLOSE-UP Dr. Carl June examined re-engineered T-cells last week in his Philadelphia lab. Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times
PHILADELPHIA — A year ago, when chemotherapy stopped working against his leukemia, William Ludwig signed up to be the first patient treated in a bold experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ludwig, then 65, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., felt his life draining away and thought he had nothing to lose.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/the-brain-s-rejuvenating-cells/
Jun 08, 2017... Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease manifested by various neuronal pathological processes and a significant decline in brain function. Aggregates of beta-amyloid protein (“plaques”) accumulate within and between brain cells. Due to both structural changes and the weakening of chemical communication pathways, the junctions of neuronal networks (synapses) are lost. In addition, the cytoskeletal proteins of the axons lose their normal structure, impairing their function and causing massive neuronal death.
Jan 02, 2019...
Cholesterol plaque illustration by Hywards/Shutterstock.com
You probably know that LDL cholesterol is “bad” and that too much of it in your blood puts you at risk of atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries.
A group of Israeli researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science wanted to understand how cholesterol, a basic component of life, can turn deadly.
The job of cholesterol is to provide elasticity to the fatty substance that makes up cell membranes. LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol acts as “packaging” to help cholesterol travel through the blood, and can even clear away molecular cholesterol that settles on blood vessel walls.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/a-pioneer-in-the-stem-cell-frontier/
Jun 19, 2015...
Our bone marrow contains stem cells with a special power: they can turn into any other type of blood cells. Transplants of these blood (or “hematopoietic”) stem cells are used to treat patients with cancers such as leukemia and other disorders of the blood and immune system.
“They are sophisticated cells that can go in the direction we need them to,” says Prof. Yair Reisner, head of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Immunology. “If we lose red blood cells, these stem cells will rapidly replenish the red cells, and if we need white cells, they will switch to replenish those.”
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