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/in-the-news/study-shows-how-cell-types-communicate/
Feb 13, 2018...
Irene Kim
A new study based on a cross-continent collaboration between researchers at Yale and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel demonstrates how different cell types communicate with each other.
Researchers at the two institutions have shown that two different cell types common to most human tissues — macrophages and fibroblasts — “talk” to each other through small signaling molecules known as growth factors. Although scientists have conducted decades of research on signaling within one cell type, not much was previously known about communication between different cell types. The study was published in the journal Cell on Feb. 8.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-germs-that-love-diet-soda/
Apr 06, 2018...
Credit Julian Glander
There are lots of reasons to avoid processed foods. They’re often packed with sugar, fat and salt, and they tend to lack certain nutrients critical to health, like fiber. And now, new research suggests that some of the additives that extend the shelf life and improve the texture of these foods may have unintended side effects — not on our bodies directly, but on the human microbiome, the trillions of bacteria living in our guts.These substances may selectively feed the more dangerous members of our microbial communities, causing illness and even death.
Mar 11, 2019...
Illustration by Serge Bloch
Nobody paid much attention to Jean Vance 30 years ago, when she discovered something fundamental about the building blocks inside cells. She even doubted herself, at first.
The revelation came after a series of roadblocks. The cell biologist had just set up her laboratory at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and was working alone. She thought she had isolated a pure batch of structures called mitochondria — the power plants of cells — from rat livers. But tests revealed that her sample contained something that wasn’t supposed to be there. “I thought I’d made a big mistake,” Vance recalls.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/artificial-cells-act-like-the-real-thing/
Aug 18, 2014...
(l-r) Eyal Karzbrun, Alexandra Tayar, and Prof. Roy Bar-Ziv.
Imitation, they say, is the sincerest form of flattery, but mimicking the intricate networks and dynamic interactions that are inherent to living cells is difficult to achieve outside the cell. Now, as published in Science, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have created an artificial, network-like cell system that is capable of reproducing the dynamic behavior of protein synthesis. This achievement is not only likely to help us gain a deeper understanding of basic biological processes, but it may, in the future, pave the way toward controlling the synthesis of both naturally occurring and synthetic proteins for a host of uses.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/ron-diskin-mapping-defenses-against-hiv/
Oct 09, 2013...
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 (in green) budding from cultured lymphocyte. Multiple round bumps on cell surface represent sites of assembly and budding of virions. Photo by C. Goldsmith
The race to find a cure for AIDS, one of Earth’s most pressing epidemics for more than three decades now, is often more of a chaotic relay. Thousands of international scientists must constantly revise their own projects to keep up with findings from across all scientific disciplines — always collaborating toward a common good, yet also trying to stay one step ahead of the competition.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/new-clues-help-doctors-cure-patients-not-diseases/
Mar 27, 2017...
Medical treatment must take into account each patient’s individuality. Image via Shutterstock.com
Why is a certain type of cancer more often fatal in obese patients, and another type more fatal in the elderly? Why does a serious eye disease develop in many Bedouin children?
Doctors and researchers in Israel search for answers to medical mysteries like these at the Nancy & Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine (G-INCPM) at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/research-on-fertility-yields-unexpected-rewards/
Feb 16, 2011...
When Prof. Nava Dekel of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Biological Regulation began studying a protein that plays a role in implanting fertilized eggs in the uterus, she had no idea it would lead to a discovery that is now helping couples struggling with infertility to have children.
For many years, Prof. Dekel focused her investigations on the mechanisms responsible for ovum (egg) development and embryo implantation. “But in science,” she says, “you can never decide ‘this is what I’m going to study for the rest of my life.’ You follow a path, and somewhere along the way you say, ‘Wow – there’s something interesting!’”
Nov 16, 2016...
In the age of convenience, on-demand car services such as Uber and Lyft have become so popular that city dwellers across America wonder how they survived without them. It’s easy to forget that just a few years ago, using a smartphone app to hail a ride was a novel idea. And one of the first to recognize its potential was Weizmann Institute alumnus Dr. Oren Shoval.
Shoval is a co-founder of Via, a New York City-based startup that is taking the transportation space by storm. Since its inception in 2012, the company has provided more than seven million rides and raised an impressive $137 million from investors. What makes Via stand out from its competition? Rather than providing door-to-door rides, the service offers ride shares for passengers traveling in the same direction and drops them off within a couple blocks of their destination. In this way, the company keeps the number of vehicles to a minimum—and guarantees low flat fares. For New Yorkers, it means being able to travel from lower Manhattan to Harlem for $5, “the price of a latte,” as Via’s website points out.
Oct 29, 2014... Prof. Deborah Fass speaks at the Partners in Innovation session of the Weizmann Institute's 2014 Global Gathering about her work with proteins. There are so many types of proteins that the total number is about the number of observable stars in the universe. ""Each of us,"" says Prof. Fass, ""is an entire protein universe."" Prof. Haim Garty introduces her.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-june-2012/
Jun 12, 2012... Financial loss can lead to irrational behavior. Now, research by Weizmann Institute scientists reveals that the effects of loss go even deeper: loss can compromise our early perception and interfere with our grasp of the true situation. The findings, which recently appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, may also have implications for our understanding of the neurological mechanisms underlying post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).