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/blog/cone-snail-venom-can-kill-or-heal/
Nov 13, 2019...
Pretty, deadly: toxins from the marine cone snail can kill … and be used for lifesaving medicines. Photo credit: Volker Steger. Photograph taken at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory, 2002
Armed and ready, the hunter senses that prey is approaching. Once the victim is within striking range, the hunter lets its poisonous harpoon fly, spearing and tethering its victim and pulling it ever closer as the toxins do their paralyzing work. The prey, immobilized, is eaten alive.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/medical-marijuana-born-at-weizmann/
Nov 03, 2022...
Raphael Mechoulam’s research has driven the current medical marijuana boom – and is helping people suffering from a host of conditions.
Following the wave of marijuana legalization across America, THC and CBD products are now everywhere: gummy bears, energy drinks, chocolate, even skincare products. Before laws were changed, scientists in the U.S. were handicapped in their ability to research marijuana, thus giving a decades-long edge to scientists elsewhere. Scientists like Prof. Raphael Mechoulam at Israel’s Weizmann Institute. As a young academic, Mechoulam was able to convince the police to give him hashish for his research (one of his many fascinating stories.) This led to a relationship that continued for over 40 years.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/medications-good-for-you-bad-for-the-rest-of-the-world/
Feb 25, 2019...
Everything is connected: pharmaceuticals can be found throughout the environment. Fish seem particularly susceptible. Plus, we eat them – and, thus, consume whatever drugs are in their bodies.
Billions of us take medications on a regular basis, and while they help manage common conditions like viruses, depression, pain, menopause, thyroid disease, and the like, they are not so good for the environment.
Nov 29, 2018... On November 29, 2018, American Committee supporters from across the U.S. tuned in for new CEO Dave Doneson’s first video conference, “Weizmann Science: Why Basic Research Matters and Merits Our Support.” In conversation with Bonnie Diamond, Senior Vice President of Donor Relations & National Programs, Mr. Doneson illustrated the value of basic science by sharing the stories of three transformative breakthroughs.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-october-2014/
Oct 21, 2014... When we talk about global carbon fixation – pumping carbon out of the atmosphere and “fixing” it into organic molecules by photosynthesis – proper measurement is key to understanding the process. By some estimates, almost half of the world’s organic carbon is fixed by marine organisms called phytoplankton – single-celled photosynthetic organisms that account for less than one percent of the total photosynthetic biomass on Earth.
Dec 07, 2009... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 7, 2009—Although bone marrow transplants have long been standard for acute leukemia, current treatments still rely on exact matches between donor and patient. Now, scientists at the University of Perugia, Italy, and the Weizmann Institute of Science have improved on a method of transplanting bone marrow-based stem cells from a mismatched donor, making it safer for use when no exact match exists. They were invited to present their findings at the recent annual American Society of Hematology conference in New Orleans.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/2010-young-innovators-under-35-jacob-hanna/
Aug 01, 2010...
Jacob Hanna, 30
Whitehead Institute
Reprogramming cells to cure diseases
Mere months after Kyoto University researchers announced in 2007 that they had discovered how to turn skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), Jacob Hanna used these new types of cells to cure mice of sickle-cell anemia, in which a genetic defect causes bone marrow to make defective red blood cells. Hanna, a fellow at the Whitehead Institute, took skin cells from a diseased mouse and reprogrammed them create iPS cells, which behave like embryonic stem cells, readily turning into any cell type in the body. He then corrected the sickle-cell genetic defect and prodded the iPS cells to develop into the type of marrow stem cell that manufactures a mouse’s blood cells. These healthy cells were transplanted back into the mouse, whose immune system accepted them as the animal's own tissue. The treated mouse began producing healthy red blood cells on its own.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/science-signaling-podcast-with-prof-mike-fainzilber/
Jul 20, 2010...
Click here to listen to the Science Signaling podcast with Prof. Mike Fainzilber.
Participants: Mike Fainzilber and Annalisa M. VanHook
A conversation about a research article published in the 13 July 2010 issue of Science Signaling.
Highlighted article:
I. Michaelevski, Y. Segal-Ruder, M. Rozenbaum, K. F. Medzihradszky, O. Shalem, G. Coppola, S. Horn-Saban, K. Ben-Yaakov, S. Y. Dagan, I. Rishal, D. H. Geschwind, Y. Pilpel, A. L. Burlingame, M. Fainzilber, Signaling to Transcription Networks in the Neuronal Retrograde Injury Response. Sci. Signal. 3, ra53 (2010).
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/developing-the-next-generation-of-drugs/
Nov 20, 2011... Enzymes—the proteins responsible for chemical reactions in living cells—change their structure at dizzying speeds.This dynamic action makes them very efficient, but it can also make them difficult to study. Prof. Irit Sagi of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Biological Regulation develops new experimental tools and procedures to study shape-shifting enzymes in real time and at the scale of individual atoms.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/abbott-labs-seeks-the-next-best-thing-in-israel/
Mar 13, 2012...
Dr. Dieter Ziegler, Abbott's global external research director for Europe, with Prof. Irit Sagi, a metalloenzyme researcher from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Photo courtesy of the Weizmann Institute
In a bold new experiment, a global US-based pharmaceutical company recently inked a three-year collaboration with an Israeli science institute.
Abbott Laboratories will fund research programs in select areas of medicine through Yeda Research and Development Company, the technology transfer arm of the world-renowned Weizmann Institute of Science.
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