First review in a series that will deal with the developments of the universities' implementation companies that will be presented at the Biomed conference, June 15-17, David Intercontinental Hotel, Tel Aviv and this time - developments of B.G. Negev (Ben Gurion University) and Bar Ilan
By: Efrat Barak
* (The writer specializes as part of her activity at "Donitza Communications - DMC", in the field of biotechnology and medical devices)
Bar Ilan Research and Development Company
Remote sensing of biomedical signals
At Bar-Ilan University, an innovative technology has been developed that allows sensing and monitoring of biomedical signals such as heartbeat, pulse and blood flow remotely and without contact. Beyond that, the technology makes it possible to hear people from a distance, where the uniqueness is not only in the ability to receive the signals from a distance and without contact, but also in the fact that several signals can be received simultaneously with complete separation between them. That is, the reception of the signal is very directional in terms of its separation from the background and environment noises.
The system itself is simple and very cheap. It includes a camera, a laser and an appropriate algorithm for processing the data and extracting the audio signal from the image captured by the camera. The applications currently being studied include non-contact fetal monitoring for women in advanced stages of pregnancy, development of hearing aids for hard of hearing people, continuous monitoring of cardiological activity over time, etc.
The technology is in the laboratory prototype stage built at the School of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University. The development itself was done by Prof. Zeev Zalevsky from Bar-Ilan University in collaboration with Prof. Javier Garcia from the University of Valencia in Spain. The technology is commercialized by Bar Ilan Research and Development Company Ltd.
B. G. Negev - Ben Gurion University's Commercialization Leader
A guided drug delivery system to the marrow
An innovative and smart drug transport system was developed by the team of scientists, Prof. Eliyahu Haldeman from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Dr. Serena Greenberg and Dr. Charles Linder from the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology at Ben Gurion University. The system is built from submicroscopic (nano) spheres, which thanks to their special structure are able to lead drugs directly to the target site in the human body, including the brain, and release them there. This innovative transport system increases the availability of the drug at the target site, reducing the side effects and toxicity of drugs. The research team was able to show that a biological substance (peptide) that forgets pain (analgesic) that otherwise does not cross the blood-brain barrier, was able to reach the brain and act there with this technology, both when given orally and when injected.
The innovative system is protected by broad patents and in the Negev and the researchers are currently preparing to look for suitable partners for further development.
Treatment of inflammatory diseases
The innovative treatment developed by Prof. Rachel Levy from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at the Ben-Gurion University School of Medicine and the Soroka Medical Center is based on the use of a short antisense molecule that was specially designed to prevent the creation of a protein known as cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), which plays a vital role In the inflammatory process in several diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and low vision syndrome, in various types of cancer such as colon cancer and in neurogenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and ALS.
Today, inflammatory diseases are treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or by administering steroids. These drugs have a limited effect and cause serious side effects. The new drugs that are currently in various stages of development are basically biological drugs that are able to delay the development of the inflammation mechanism in its stages
the various Prof. Levy believes that her innovative treatment based on delaying a very early stage in the chain of development of the inflammation will be more effective than the proposed treatments and will avoid side effects.
Anti-cancer treatments
The research of Prof. Shoshan-Barmetz, director of the National Institute of Biotechnology in the Negev, focuses on the VDAC protein found on the outer membrane of the mitochondria. This protein is found in cancer cells in close association with other proteins that give these cells a survival advantage. It was found that detaching VDAC from the surface of cancer cells or reducing its amount in the cell leads to a significant slowdown in the development of these cells and even to their death.
In light of these findings, Prof. Shushan-Barmetz's laboratory developed different types of substances whose target site is the VDAC protein. A group of peptide substances that has been developed, is able to cause the separation of VDAC from the proteins that give cancer cells their ability to survive. Treatment of these substances in different types of cancer cells resulted in the death of these cells, while in healthy cells, the addition of these substances had no effect and the cells continued with normal life processes.
Another agent being developed is an RNAi molecule based on nucleic acids and designed to specifically inhibit the formation of VDAC. RNAi treatment caused a decrease in energy production in the cell and a dramatic slowdown in the growth rate of cancer cells. Furthermore, in experiments in which mice were infected with cancer cells that expressed the RNAi against VDAC, no cancerous tumors developed, in contrast to control mice that were infected with normal cancer cells and in which tumors developed.
"We believe," says Prof. Shoshan-Barmetz, "that the peptides and RNAi we have developed can be used as an effective treatment for at least some of the incurable types of cancer."
The project is in the pre-clinical phase of starting experiments on animals.
6 תגובות
fresh:
I don't think you read everything I wrote.
Try again.
Note that I talked about the fact that the state (through its citizens) is involved in everything - that is - not only in research but also in implementation, marketing and sales and in every field you can think of.
I gave many more reasons and it seems to me that you simply did not read.
Are you claiming that investing in the research of "everything" is a huge and too risky investment for a private entrepreneur so that only governments can take the risk?
There are hundreds if not thousands of billionaires in the world, who can finance the establishment of several universities that will research "everything" and provide research budgets for the next 30 years." In the list of the 1000 richest people in the world, there are people who can finance Israel's higher education system for another 100 years.
fresh:
I am right and the scientists who claim so are also right (I don't know who the title "the scientists" represents in general).
In contrast to that hypothetical venture capital fund - the state does deal with everything (and as an economic organization it issues a coupon as a tax from the profits of all concerned).
Apart from that, the state cannot be as picky as the private investors and invest only in what has already been invented because if the state also stops investing in research then the whole system will stop.
If you are right, then why do the scientists claim that the science investment is a "good" investment that the state should finance? After all, the same arguments of yours can also be made by the treasury officials, which of course will lead to the termination of the funding of higher education.
fresh:
Remember we talked about serendipity?
Scientific research yields valuable results, but it is not possible to know in advance in which field the value will be created.
Therefore - to be able to take full advantage of the value of the research results - one should simply engage in every possible field: from cooking, through communications to nuclear reactors.
A research institute such as the ones you describe cannot produce the full value because it cannot engage in the application of anything in the world.
The only way for such an institute to "make a living" from the results of its research is by selling the knowledge created, but such a sale yields much less than the full value of the discovery (since the implementers, marketers, sellers and investors in all the above activities also want to make a profit).
Therefore, it is less appealing to "venture capital" investors, what is more, they expect a return that is much higher than a ratio of two to one, and they manage to reach such a ratio by investing their money in the application, marketing and sale of products that the research has already yielded.
They always say that investing in science and higher education is not philanthropy because a shekel that goes to scientific research returns 2 shekels to the state. If this claim is true and science gives such beautiful returns, why aren't there billionaires who establish universities that will actually be a commercial company owned by them for all intents and purposes?