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/making-spines-from-sea-water/
Nov 30, 2016... Some sea creatures cover themselves with hard shells and spines, while vertebrates build skeletons out of the same minerals. How do these animals get the calcium they need to build these strong mineral structures? Profs. Lia Addadi and Steve Weiner of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Structural Biology asked this question about sea urchins, which need to extract quite a few calcium ions from sea water in order to build their spines. The answer surprised the two – and it could change the way scientists think about the process of biomineralization.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/could-lowering-oxygen-levels-reduce-jet-lag/
Oct 28, 2016...
Jet lag is a familiar hazard for those who take long flights. Now, it turns out, the remedy may be in the very air we breathe.
Scientists in Israel (with help from a colleague in the U.K.) have found that reducing atmospheric oxygen levels shaved days off the time that mice took to adjust to a big time shift. This suggests that it may someday be possible to offer travelers a low-oxygen lounge, or even lower the oxygen in baggage-claim areas, to help travelers combat discombobulation.
Sep 06, 2017...
A process called droplet microfluidics isolates thousands of cells in microscopic water droplets allowing up-close analysis of genetic material. Credit: Dr Linas Mazutis
It is nearly 350 years since scientists first discovered that our bodies are made up of tiny building blocks known as cells. Today we still know very little about their nature, but if we did, we could better understand how our bodies work, how diseases afflict us and how we age.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/november-is-american-diabetes-month/
Nov 01, 2017... As we enter a time of year abundant with food-centric holidays and gatherings, it can be helpful to pause for a moment to think about how we eat – and how much. We all know that overeating and consuming unhealthy foods often leads to obesity, which often leads to diabetes – frequently as part of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions comprised of four interrelated illnesses: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. But despite this awareness, diabetes rates keep soaring worldwide. In the U.S. alone, reports the American Diabetes Association, more than 29 million of us have the disease – that’s 1 in 11 people. Even more alarming is that 86 million Americans have prediabetes, meaning that 1 in 3 are on the verge of becoming diabetic.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-july-2013/
Aug 01, 2013...
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of a logic circuit based on 14 nanowires. From the work of Prof. Joselevich.
Researchers working with tiny components in nanoelectronics face a challenge similar to that of parents of small children: teaching them to manage on their own. The nano-components are so small that arranging them with external tools is impossible. The only solution is to create conditions in which they can be “trusted” to assemble themselves.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/matching-proteins-defeating-disease/
Nov 16, 2016...
Dr. Sarel Fleishman
With dating sites, you can search for a partner who has everything you want, from physical attributes to religious beliefs, education to hobbies, geography to age – and yet finding a mate is challenging for many. Wouldn’t it be nice if the other person could be changed here and there to meet your requirements?
This wish-list technology doesn’t exist yet … for humans. For proteins, it’s another matter, thanks to Dr. Sarel Fleishman at the Weizmann Institute of Science. “I started my career asking, essentially, how do proteins mate?” he says. “They each have knobs and holes that must fit together in a complementary way.”
Jun 14, 2017...
However, being savvy about nutrition may not be as easy as we thought, as some of our traditional assumptions about food are now being challenged.
You’re about to make a sandwich. Do your reach for the freshly stone-milled whole-grain wheat flour, sourdough leavening, superior ingredients baked in a stone-hearth oven to create a picture-perfect, super-healthy loaf of artisanal bread? Or, white bread—the industrial kind made from white flour.
Jul 30, 2019...
JERUSALEM, July 29 (Xinhua) – Israeli scientists discovered how oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” is restocked in the brain, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) said Monday.
Oxytocin is responsible, for example, for a burst of happiness with parents gazing at their newborn baby or a loving couple exchanging glances.
However, oxytocin is not only a hormone of love but also plays a role in normal social interaction, birth and breastfeeding, control of stress and appetite and more.
Oct 10, 2015...
© Photo courtesy of Flickr, Judit Klein. Blue cheese is among the many foods that may help repair circadian clocks and lower the risk of age-related diseases.
Imagine a dietary supplement that could slow down age-related diseases and possibly lengthen the life humans live. Well, polyamines, compounds found abundantly in nearly every living cell, may have the power to do this. They play an intrinsic role in the body’s internal clock and regulate cell growth and death. Researchers discovered that as mice aged, their levels of polyamines began to drop, slowing down the body clock’s natural cycle (roughly 24 hours), and increasing their susceptibility to disease. The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, explain that by eating polyamines, we may be able to stave off disease and even increase longevity.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/unraveling-the-mysteries-of-science-and-disease/
Feb 23, 2014...
PROF. MICHEL REVEL. Photo: JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Six months after his 75th birthday, after teaching generations of young graduate and post-doctoral students at the Weizmann Institute of Science and with a wife, four children and 12 grandchildren, one could expect Prof. Michel Revel to sit back and enjoy life. Yet, the Frenchborn, internationally acclaimed molecular geneticist, who invented a major drug to treat multiple sclerosis used around the world and received the Israel Prize, EMET Prize and other major awards, has his eyes fixed on the future.
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