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/when-scientific-journals-show-political-bias/
Dec 09, 2014...
Daniel Zajfman
Scenes of war such as those coming out of Gaza naturally arouse emotions, including in “objective” reporters. Despite this human tendency, there is one end of the media spectrum – the end occupied by established, peer-reviewed, scientific journals – where we would normally expect to read articles that are impartial, unbiased scientific reports. Publishing based on scientific merit alone is one of the cornerstones of global science; without it, science could not advance as a coherent global endeavor.
Apr 01, 2020...
JERUSALEM — Teams of epidemiologists and computer scientists on three continents have started mass population surveys to try to get ahead of the coronavirus and ensure that scarce diagnostic tests, and even scarcer ventilators, are sent where they can do the most good.
More than two million people in Britain and 150,000 Israelis have already completed simple questionnaires, and many are updating their answers daily. Analysts of the data — including symptoms of Covid-19 and test results, as well as risk factors and demographics — say they have been able to identify incipient outbreaks days ahead of the authorities.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/strigaway-puts-a-hex-on-witchweed/
Jan 14, 2016... Striga, also known as witchweed, is a parasitic weed that infests up to 50 million hectares of sub-Saharan African land. In Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda alone, striga infests over one million hectares of farmland. The weed causes farmers to lose anywhere from a third to one hundred percent of their staple crops, leading to hunger and financial hardship for as many as 100 million people. Traditional approaches to controlling Striga include crop rotation, intercropping, and various other planting techniques. However, these methods are time-consuming and have limited results, especially for smallholders who make up 70 to 80 percent of the farmers in this region.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/a-year-of-achievements-and-advances/
Jan 18, 2017... The prostate cancer therapy Tookad® is the product of a decades-long cross-disciplinary partnership between a plant scientist, Prof. Avigdor Scherz, and a biochemist, Prof. Yoram Salomon. The chlorophyll-based method destroys the tumor but not the healthy tissue nearby – and without the quality-of-life impacts of other prostate cancer treatments. This past year, Mexico approved Tookad® for treatment of early stage prostate cancer. Europe and Israel are nearing approval, and late-stage clinical trials are ongoing at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Jul 07, 2017... In Israel’s earliest days, Weizmann Institute scientists invented a method for waxing oranges so they could be shipped, which was a major boon for the country’s then-fledgling, agriculture-based economy. Since those days, the Weizmann Institute of Science hasn’t stopped working toward improving food security — not just for Israel, but for the world. But today the task is more daunting than ever: by the mid-21st century there will be nine billion mouths to feed; and climate change is expected to have an impact on agriculture, possibly a considerably negative impact.
Jan 11, 2012... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 11, 2012—When did modern humans arrive in Europe and Asia? At what rate have cultural changes spread from one region to another throughout history? How did Neanderthal teeth and bones differ from ours? These are examples of topics to be investigated at the new Max Planck – Weizmann Institute of Science Center in the Field of Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology.
Dec 27, 2010...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 27, 2010— In a collaborative effort involving 74 researchers from 38 research institutes, scientists have produced the full genome of a wild strawberry plant. The research appeared on December 26 in Nature Genetics online.
Drs. Asaph Aharoni and Avital Adato of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Plant Sciences were the sole Israeli scientists participating in the project, but they made a major contribution in mapping the genes and gene families responsible for the strawberry’s flavor and aroma.
Dec 22, 2015... Prof. David Cahen, head of the Weizmann Institute's Alternative Energy Research Initiative, and colleague Prof. Leeor Kronik discuss humankind's energy problem – specifically, that we cannot keep using energy as we do today – and potential solutions, such as use of highly efficient solar power. The event was held at The Gregory School in Tucson.
Dec 11, 2012... Despite advances in agriculture, the numbers of the world’s hungry are increasing. The World Health Organization has stated that lack of food is the world’s number one health risk. About 170 million children in impoverished countries are underweight because of lack of food. The “green revolution” of the last century, dependent on pesticides and chemical fertilizers, bypassed many of the world’s poorest farmers — the very people that needed it most. In addition, the pressures on land and water resources created by growing populations in some of the planet’s least-developed regions contribute to the crisis.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/research-on-aging-at-the-weizmann-institute/
Aug 01, 2012... According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1900, the global average life span was 31 years of age. By 2030, in highly developed places such as the U.S., average life expectancy at birth is expected to be around 85. And while wisdom may come with age, so do many unwanted issues, such as poor physical and mental health. In addition, an aging population takes a toll on society: older people are often harder to treat medically; it can be more challenging to get around, either on foot or by driving; and general quality of life may be reduced.
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