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Weizmann Institute

Flint vessels found in excavations at the Evron quarry. Photo: Zana Stepka

Rare evidence of the use of fire more than 800 years ago was uncovered at an archaeological site in the Galilee

The findings obtained through an innovative method based on artificial intelligence are some of the earliest evidence of the use of fire in Israel and in the world
How ketamine works: a schematic diagram of the new mechanism discovered in the study alongside the known mechanism. Ketamine molecule directly inhibits a certain type of receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate (top left) and produces a chain reaction that leads to increased expression of potassium ion channels (KCNQ) in neurons of the glutamate system in the anterior hippocampus (right)

Crossing the canal: how does today's most promising molecule for the treatment of depression work?

Using advanced methods for genetic sequencing at the single cell level, Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveal a new molecular mechanism of action of ketamine - and show that combining it with another drug may lead to improved performance and reduced side effects
Cells that produce bone tissue (in red) and lymphatic vessels (in green) in a developing fin of a young zebrafish

Blood relationship

How are blood vessels born? The institute's scientists revealed surprising findings following observations of the fins of young zebrafish
Prof. Michael Sela, 2016. Photo: Yael Ilan

Prof. Michael Sela, former president of the Weizmann Institute, one of the developers of Copaxone and other drugs, has passed away.

From childhood in a factory yard in Poland to the top of world science and the development of best-selling drugs that have helped millions around the world
Winter storms in the Southern Hemisphere / NASA Worldview

Warning storms: the truth data reveals - the climate crisis is progressing faster than expected

A new study led by Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveals that the intensification of winter storms in the Southern Hemisphere has already reached the level of predictions for the end of the 21st century
Schematic diagram of the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDC) protein complex. Responsible for the transition between the metabolic pathways for the breakdown of sucralose and the production of energy in the mitochondrion ("Krebs cycle"). On the left: the classic move as it was known until now with the addition of the research hypothesis (marked with a question mark), on the right: the move as observed in transgenic mice without enzymes from the PDK family. The backup plan revealed in the study is highlighted with an exclamation mark

Opening a circle

Institute scientists are updating a version of one of the most classic diagrams in biochemistry books - the Krebs circle
Schematic diagram of the bacterial operon (top) versus the eukaryotic transferron (bottom). According to the researchers, instead of "beads on a string" a kind of genetic "stroke-na" game developed during evolution that allows using the same "letters" - that is, messenger RNA molecules originating from genes located on different chromosomes - to create different "words", i.e. different transferrons

make from an elephant bacterium

How did evolution overcome the lack of order in the storage of genetic information in the transition from bacteria to more developed creatures?
Prof. Yosef Shaul. The virus ignited his imagination

FDA approval for a third generation vaccine for viral hepatitis B

The component was developed based on the research of Prof. Yosef Shaul
Spirulina. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Breakfast of champions

When did unicellular algae become so nutritious - and how the change paved the way for an evolutionary leap
XNUMXD structure of an enzyme from the versatile peroxidase family generated through artificial intelligence-based prediction. The yellow dots mark mutations introduced by the algorithm developed in Prof. Fleishman's laboratory, with the aim of increasing the stability of the enzyme

The proteins of the future are already here

A combination of artificial intelligence and protein design algorithms allows for the first time access to a gold mine: millions of natural proteins that can be used in a variety of environmental, medical and industrial applications
In healthy skin tissue samples (left) ScAF cells show thin and elongated "tails" (in green), while in patients with limited scleroderma (center) - and even more so in patients with diffuse scleroderma (right) - there are fewer and fewer ScAF cells, and those that remain gradually lose their Their elongated tails show different expression levels of some proteins (marked in blue and red)

In a new skin: transforming every cell on the way to understanding a rare autoimmune disease

Weizmann Institute of Science scientists in collaboration with Hadassah and Rambam doctors present a new road map for the study of diseases in which there is still much that is hidden on the open
Microglial cells that were "ripened" in the laboratory from stem cells derived from ALS patients (in green), the cell nuclei - in blue. Photographed using a confocal microscope

The good mutation

Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have discovered a new pathway that may protect nerve cells in the brain and slow down the development of degenerative brain disease
Natural cancer antibodies (green) bind to ovarian cancer cells. Cell nuclei in blue. Photographed using a confocal microscope

The new players in the war on cancer

Our immune system has a powerful and accurate weapon to destroy bacteria and viruses. It is possible that in the future it will also be possible to harness it against malignant tumors
The Fantastic Five: strontium ions in a vacuum chamber trapped in an array of electric fields and cooled using laser beams to a temperature several millionths of a degree above absolute zero

Israel enters the quantum computing club

Weizmann Institute of Science scientists present the first Israeli quantum computer; In its construction, innovative methods were applied that will help advance the field towards unprecedented computational capabilities
The butterfly hunter from the Jezreel valley dreamed of studying biology, until he came across an old physics book and discovered that natural phenomena can be calculated with mathematical tools. You are here Home > Publications > Milestone > In a nuclear shell Share tags Yigal nuclear thalamiphysics The shell model When the Soviet government closed the schools that taught Hebrew, Prof. Ben-Zion Dinburg (later Dinor, Minister of Education and Culture) arranged immigration licenses ("certificates") for teachers in the hope of bringing them to kibbutzim and moshavim. Thus, four years after the founding of Kfar Yehezkel, the second workers' settlement in the Land of Israel, the Ptolemy (formerly Smilansky) family, who immigrated from Ukraine in 1925, joined its ranks: the parents Moshe and Leah, teachers of Hebrew, their daughter Tahia, about ten years old, and their toddler son, Yigal, less than one year old. On the ship that arrived from Odessa to Jaffa there were two more families of teachers, but they stayed in Tel Aviv, which seemed quite pioneering to them. Yigal grew up in Moshav at the foot of the Gilboa, in the heart of the Jezreel Valley, and studied until the XNUMXth grade at the school in the village that his father ran (one of his students, Azaria Alon, wrote highly of Moshe Ptolemy). The XNUMXth grade was in the Geva group, and Vigal and four other boys walked to the Geva every morning. When it rained and water flowed in the wadi between the settlements, crossing was not possible. Prof. Yigal Ptolemy. Contributed a lot to shaping the image of the Weizmann Institute

in the nuclear envelope

The butterfly hunter from the Jezreel Valley dreamed of studying biology, until he came across an old physics book and discovered that natural phenomena can be calculated with mathematical tools
Antibodies attack the corona virus. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Not all antibodies are created equal

Critically ill, recovering or vaccinated - how do the antibodies to corona that each of the groups produces differ and what are the unique characteristics of the antibodies acquired following vaccination
Breast cancer cells that express high levels of NUP93 (left) develop fingers that help them move; In contrast, cells without NUP93 are much more stationary (right)

The fight against breast cancer violence

A mouse intestinal mucosa lined with finger-like protrusions (in white) and containing lymphoid organs (in red) that contain germinal centers (in green). Photographed by confocal microscopy

There is no doubling of promotions: the immune system must choose - short term or long term

When the body's defense systems sacrifice the long term for short term victories
The institute's scientists revealed a communication channel between two key players in the cell - the nucleus and the mitochondria - and showed that the two organelles exchange messages with each other through molecular communication lines

Mitochondria answer, it's me

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The institute's scientists revealed a communication channel between two key players in the cell - the nucleus and the mitochondria - and showed that the two organelles exchange messages with each other through molecular communication lines
The beginning of life. Illustration - shutterstock

In the beginning there was soap

What was the first chemical entity that met the basic conditions for life?
An MRI scan of a mouse brain shows with the help of two colors the expression of two different proteins. Weizmann Institute

Through the Tissues: The New Life of MRI Scans

If it were possible, for example, to mark with colors the expression of genes in the cells of the body, vital biological processes that are now hidden from view would unfold before our eyes. The fluorescence revolution makes it possible to illuminate, in the full sense of the word, the activity occurring in the cells, but it does not allow observing the processes occurring in the depths of the body
Expression of genes indicating the presence of inflammation (marked in brown-red) in intestinal cell samples. A distinct inflammatory presence in the stool samples (left) but not in the biopsy (right)

Without fasting or anesthesia: a non-invasive method for diagnosing inflammatory bowel diseases may replace colonoscopy examinations

Besides the ability to diagnose Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, the new method may allow personalized treatments depending on the nature of the inflammation
A "topographic map" of a segment on the surface of a T cell. The red areas are the flexible fingers described in the paper (the warmer the color, the higher the labeled area). CCR7 receptors (in black) are located at the highest points on the surface of the fingers

Know when to stop

How do the cells of the immune system know how to brake quickly?
The star Wolf-Raya and the nebula that surrounds it as captured by the lens of the Hubble Space Telescope of NASA and the European Space Agency. In the new study, a supernova was observed for the first time in a star of this type // NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope

A boom in the middle of the universe: a supernova of a rare type has been discovered

Weizmann Institute scientists have identified a new type of supernova in a galaxy a billion light years away
A mouse embryo with human cells (in green) contributing to its development. These cells were located mainly in the areas of the heart and brain

The cell of all cells - the scientific magic journey - science news, discoveries and information for the public

Prof. Yaacov Hana's method for growing mouse embryos outside the womb was chosen by Science as one of the scientific breakthroughs of 2021. Another study that came out this year from his laboratory advances us a step towards the ability to grow organs for transplantation
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