Biology and Medicine

Dr. Natalia Freund. Photo: Tel Aviv University Spokesperson

A long and winding journey to discover new ways to fight tuberculosis

A study from Tel Aviv University identified two families of human antibodies that bind to the PSTS1 protein of the tuberculosis bacterium, and in a mouse experiment, the antibody treatment led to a 50% reduction in the bacterial load in the lungs.
CellMentor's excellent performance in analyzing RNA sequencing data – on the right. You can see the separation between different cells. In the other two columns – the performance of two popular methods that fail to cope with the data and fail to present the cells as separate units. Credit: Technion Spokesperson

Smart integration of cell sequencing – towards early and accurate diagnosis of diseases

Dr. Dvir Aran from the Faculty of Biology at the Technion has developed a computational method that extracts important information from RNA sequences at the single cell level.
Using fMRI. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Breakthrough: fMRI brain training increased antibodies after hepatitis B vaccination

A study by Tel Aviv University, the Technion, and Ichilov in Nature Medicine found that positive anticipation that activates the VTA region of the reward system is associated with a stronger immune response in humans.
The first animals on Earth. The sponge Theonella swinhui. Photo: Micha Ilan Laboratory

The sponge from the Gulf of Eilat that produces anti-cancer substances and neutralizes arsenic: This is how Theonla Swinhoey's "laboratory" works

When you think of sponges, the image of SpongeBob immediately comes to mind. But what sponge lives in Eilat that contains bacteria, anti-cancer substances and dangerous toxins? The hottest questions about the most interesting animals. Zvait website
How memory works. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Is your memory real?

In an experiment with 421 participants who were required to recall words after a minute and a half and after a day, more than 4,000 “memory justifications” were collected. Despite a decrease in the number of items recalled, the linguistic content and detail of the justifications for the items that were correctly recalled remained the same.
Alzheimer's. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Dassault Systèmes showcased a “virtual twin” simulation for Alzheimer’s and real-time sensor data connection at CES 2026

Step Inside Alzheimer's showcased a concept for combining AI, digital health records, and smart home data to enable early monitoring and detection; Eureka Park showcased startups from the company's accelerators
Human language may seem inefficient compared to digital codes, but its structure is deeply adapted to the way the brain works. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Why humans don't talk like computers: Scientists have found an answer

New research suggests that human language is less “compressed” than digital code, but saves the brain effort with familiar patterns and prediction
Xenia umbellata. Courtesy of researchers from Tel Aviv and Haifa Universities.

Israeli study: Soft coral performs rhythmic movement without a central brain

A distributed neural “pacemaker” system has been discovered in the Red Sea Xenia umbellata: each arm beats independently but synchronizes with the others; the findings were published in PNAS and may change the understanding of rhythmic movement in evolution
Five whisker follicles in a 100-micron-thick piece of tissue. Each follicle is surrounded by a thick collagen capsule and contains hundreds of mechanoreceptors, some of which have tuft-like tips. These unique external touch sensors are located near the follicle's center of mass (center of image), anchored to a collagen ring (an open C-shaped ring) that acts as a stabilizing weight, and are isolated from shocks caused by the whisker's own motion.

How rats don't get confused by their own whiskers: Evolutionary "patents" in whisker follicles separate self-motion from external touch

A study in Nature Communications reveals a subtype of touch sensors in the whisker follicle that is located near the center of mass and rests on a collagen ring that acts like a “stabilizing weight” — so the rat ignores whisker vibrations and responds precisely
Lung cancer. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Lung cancer diagnosis accuracy improves with artificial intelligence

New model generates a “map” of biomarkers from a standard staining image, improving prediction of disease course and response to immunotherapy in studies of thousands of patients
Lung on a chip. Illustration: depositphotos.com

“Breathing lung on a chip” from single human cells reveals early stages of tuberculosis

A new model in Science Advances combines lung cells, blood vessels, and immune cells from the same genetic origin, simulates breathing, and shows how early foci of cellular damage are formed during infection with the tuberculosis bacterium.
Satellite image of a winter storm in the American northwest. Source: CIRA

Pacific winter storm track moving north faster than forecast

Shifting storm tracks due to climate change is warming and drying out large areas of the American Northwest.
Sea anemone. Prof. Lior Appelbaum and Prof. Oren Levy, Bar Ilan University

Why do we sleep anyway? The surprising answer that comes from the sea

Researchers from Bar-Ilan University have succeeded in deciphering the ancient sleep mechanism and reveal that sleep protects nerve cells.
Caption: Comparison between the condition of various leaves coated with SafeWax (right) and the condition of uncoated leaves (left). From top to bottom: tomato, basil, pepper and grapevine

Coating a plant with wax will save over 50% on pesticides

The technology, published in the journal Small and funded by an EIC-Pathfinder grant, creates a uniform hydrophobic layer that makes it difficult for bacteria and fungal spores to adhere to the leaf — without harming photosynthesis, while also protecting against UV radiation and heat.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Prof. Balaban's laboratory at the Hebrew University

Bacteria survive antibiotics in two different 'off modes' – each requiring different treatment

Science Advances presented a distinction between regulated and protected growth arrest and disordered and unstable arrest, with a weak point in the cell envelope that may allow for targeted treatment strategies.
Foodtech panel at the Silicon Club Forum meeting, 12/29/2025. From right: Prof. Marcel Machloff from the Technion, Nadav Birger, investor, Hadas Reichenberg, VP of The Good Food Institute; Amir Zeidman, Chief Business Officer at The Kitchen Foodtech Incubator and Shlomo Gerdman, CEO of ASG. Photo: Shmuel Oster

Foodtech without shortcuts: Why taste, price, and regulation will determine whether we replace meat and dairy in the coming decade

In a panel featuring Prof. Marcel Machlouf from the Technion, Hadas Reichenberg (GFI), Amir Seidman (The Kitchen) and investors in the field, a complex picture emerged: Innovation is advancing, but the transition from prototype to shelf requires time, capital and political support.
CRISPR. Illustration: depositphotos.com

CRISPR Breakthrough: Epigenetic Editing Without Cutting DNA Could Transform Treatment of Genetic Diseases

Australian researchers have developed a third-generation CRISPR method that allows genes to be turned on and off without damaging DNA, offering a safer way to treat diseases such as sickle cell anemia.
Prostate cancer. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Making drug resistance a weak point in metastatic prostate cancer

A new computational tool, SpotNeoMet, developed at the Weizmann Institute, detects resistance mutations that recur in many patients and create neoantigens – a possible target for “precision” immunotherapy for broad patient groups
When to reveal and when to hide the truth. Illustration: depositphotos.com

When do we choose not to know – and when do we seek a painful truth?

Researchers at Tel Aviv University propose a model that explains how information avoidance and painful information seeking serve the same need: emotional regulation in the face of uncertainty.
Imagindairy CEO Dr. Eyal Ifergan at the Silicon Club meeting, December 2025. Photo: Shmuel Oster

Milk without a cow, but with the same proteins

Imagindairy CEO Dr. Eyal Ifergan presented at the Silicon Club forum how “precision fermentation” is trying to bring dairy products into a new era. He described how microorganisms are taught to produce milk proteins such as whey and casein,
View from Stora Förvar Cave on Stora Karlsö Island, Sweden. Credit: Jan Storå / Stockholm University

Remains of wolves from thousands of years ago on an isolated Baltic island suggest that humans brought them and managed their lives

Genetic and isotopic analysis showed that these were gray wolves and not dogs, but their aquatic diet, low genetic variation, and signs of injury raise the possibility of ongoing contact with prehistoric communities.
The mechanism that allows breast cancer to metastasize to the brain has been deciphered. Courtesy of the researchers

For the first time, a mechanism that allows breast cancer to metastasize to the brain has been deciphered

Researchers from Tel Aviv University have identified a link between loss of p53 activity (and sometimes deletions in the short arm of chromosome 17) and the adaptation of breast cancer cells to the brain environment through fatty acid pathways and communication with
DARE cells (their bodies are marked in green) and NARE cells (their bodies are not marked) in the epithelial tissue from which the fly wing develops. In red – the nuclei of the cells as they divide. The scientists discovered that NARE cells receive signals from neighboring DARE cells that tell them to divide

Resurrected tissues

Order from movement. Photos: Tel Aviv University.

Life from motion: New discovery reveals how order is born from rotation

Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that particles spinning in opposite directions in a liquid self-organize into polymer-like “active” chains that move, rotate, and exchange “partners” — a phenomenon that may shed light on self-organization processes in nature and lead to
The ticking of the biological clock in a human cell throughout the day. A fluorescent marker allows scientists to see "what time is it" at any point in time

New study reveals key role of sex hormones in our biological clock

The findings may shed new light on disruptions in the biological clock during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
Microscopic photograph: In the top row - a photograph of the brain of a normal fly, and in the bottom row - the brain of a fly with neurodegeneration, showing holes in the brain. Credit: Shai Kloksi

An enzyme that prevents sleep and mood disorders

The researchers showed that a deficiency in SIRT6 (which declines with age) diverts tryptophan into the neurotoxic kynurenine pathway at the expense of serotonin and melatonin production; inhibiting the enzyme TDO2 in fruit flies reduced brain damage and neuromotor deterioration. The findings were published in Nature
the fruit of the appendix. By No machine-readable author provided. JuanseG~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=442411

Edit, domesticate, grow: CRISPR brings an unknown relative of the tomato to the field

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers have edited genes in Golden Berries to produce plants that are about 35% shorter and easier to plant and harvest, and plan to further improve traits such as fruit size and disease resistance.
The OmniPredict system uses a multi-modal language model to predict in real time what pedestrians are likely to do – and in early tests it outperformed leading models without dedicated training. Simulation: Avi Blizovsky via DALEE

New AI model is surprisingly good at “reading” human minds

Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence system that advances autonomous vehicles beyond simply “seeing” pedestrians, to the ability to predict their next action.
Image caption: Princeton researchers have found that the prefrontal cortex of primates reuses modular thinking blocks to solve similar tasks. This gives biological brains a flexibility that artificial intelligence still lacks. The insight could help improve AI systems so that they retain old skills even as they learn new ones. Credit: Adapted by Dan Wahaba (Princeton University), based on “Brain Silhouette 2” (Littleolred, CC0 1.0, freesvg.org) and “Lego bricks” (Benjamin D. Esham, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons).

The brain has a shortcut to learning that artificial intelligence can't copy

Researchers have found that the brain repeatedly relies on the same cognitive “building blocks” when performing different types of tasks. By reassembling these blocks in new ways, the brain can rapidly generate behaviors
Anchiornis simulation using artificial intelligence

The dinosaurs that forgot how to fly: 160 million-year-old fossils suggest they lost flight

160-million-year-old dinosaur fossils reveal surprising turn in flight evolution
An Upper Cretaceous confrontation between an adult Nanutyrnus (left) and two juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex), as a semi-adolescent T. rex watches from a distance. The scene resembles a sort of “overture” to the famous T. rex trio on display in the Jane G. Pisano Dinosaur Hall at NHMLAC. Credit: Jorge Gonzalez

Scientists confirm: Nanotyrannus was a fully grown adult — not a T. rex cub

The study also sheds light on how large tyrannosaurs rapidly evolved into enormous apex predators at the top of the food web.
Ancient DNA from Denisovans left humans with a significant genetic advantage — a gene variant that could have helped early Americans survive new pathogens, and may still affect our health today. It allowed the Sherpa tribe of Nepal to live easily in the Himalayan highlands. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The hidden Denisovan gene that helped humans conquer the Americas

Traces of long-buried Denisovan DNA are resurfacing in the genomes of modern humans—and they may still be working in our favor today
Dr. Ohad Waneshk and the biochip. Photo: Weizmann Institute Spokesperson

The biochip that is already ready for the next pandemic

A new DNA chip from the Weizmann Institute of Science produces dozens of viral antigens on silicon in a single experiment and rapidly maps the immune “fingerprint” of subjects – a tool that could accelerate the development of tests, vaccines,
Bird hunting is legal in many countries, and in some areas there is also large-scale illegal hunting. Brown-throated Sparrow. Photo: Dr. Yoav Perlman

The Great Migration of Small Birds: Who Will Be More Threatening – the Climate Crisis or Humans?

Small migratory birds, weighing no more than a few grams, travel thousands of kilometers each year between their nesting sites in Europe and their breeding grounds in Africa. Dr. Yoav Perlman of the Israel Ornithology Center warns that food shortages, hunting
Reconstruction of a landscape from the Late Triassic (about 215 million years ago). A Lagerpetid reptile, a relative of pterosaurs, sits on a rock and watches pterosaurs flying above it. Credit: Matheus Fernandes

Study: Ancient pterosaurs took off with smaller brains than expected

New research using advanced fossil imaging shows that early pterosaurs – the first flying reptiles – may have mastered flight almost immediately upon their appearance, without needing a large brain like birds.
Mutations. Illustration: depositphotos.com

New 'danger' region discovered in DNA could change what we know about human disease

A new study has uncovered an important, previously neglected, locus of mutations at the start points of human genes. These regions undergo mutations at a much higher frequency than expected, especially during the earliest stages of embryonic development,
Heart disease and cancer and drug treatments – interactions

Between the heart and cancer: Technion researchers reveal surprising interrelationships between heart disease and cancerous tumors

Researchers at the Ruth and Baruch Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion present complex interrelationships between heart disease and cancer, in the hope that the findings will lead to improved treatment of both diseases.
Microalgae from BarAlgae. Photo: University of Haifa

From high-tech to the ocean: Artificial intelligence that optimizes microalgae growth

Efrat Kadosh, Director of Climate-Tech at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station at the University of Haifa, is leading the development of artificial intelligence models based on data from BarAlgae Farms – to stabilize, improve and transform the growth of
Prof. Christian Meyer presents the multi-million-unit neuromorphic computer at the TSMC conference in Amsterdam. Photo: Avi Blizovsky

Narrowing the energy efficiency gap between the brain and artificial intelligence

At the 2025 TSMC Europe OIP conference in Amsterdam, Prof. Christian Meyer from TU Dresden presented SpiNNaker-2 – a giant neuromorphic computer, based on event processing and thin-edge hardware, designed to run artificial intelligence models in real time.
Human cells that have undergone gene editing using a novel retron-based gene editing technology. The orange dots indicate successful gene edits. The green dots show a fluorescent protein tag on the surface of mitochondria. Credit: Yu-Cheon Chang / The University of Texas at Austin.

New retron-based DNA editing method to replace CRISPR offers hope for broad treatment of complex genetic diseases

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a gene editing technique that can replace damaged DNA segments in their entirety, simultaneously correct a variety of rare mutations, and achieve an efficiency of about 30% of target cells – with initial applications
Image from the study shows axons of neurons in the ACA (red) and ORB (green), which innervate the visual cortex and target distinct layers. Credit: Sur Lab/MIT Picower Institute

Your brain rewrites reality according to your state of consciousness.

Researchers at MIT have discovered that the prefrontal cortex doesn't just send "general commands" to the rest of the brain—it tailors its messages specifically to different areas, depending on arousal level and movement.
A family of settlers on Mars. Illustration: depositphotos.com

A pair of bacteria could turn Martian dust into building material for the first colonists

A new study in Frontiers in Microbiology suggests a biomineralization system of two bacterial species, Sporosarcina pasteurii and Chroococcidiopsis, that could produce "biological concrete" from Martian soil, provide oxygen, and contribute to closed agricultural systems and human colonization efforts.
Mollusks at the beginning of the dinosaur era. The oldest known oceanic tetrapod system, from about 249 million years ago. A school of small-bodied ichthyopterygians of the genus Grippia longirostris hunts squid-like ammonites (center). In the distance, schools of graminear fish Boreosomus and Saurichthys feed. Credit: Robert Back

249-million-year-old fossil shakes up evolutionary timeline

Reanalyzed Arctic fossils show marine ecosystems recovered with astonishing speed after the 'Great Dying'
Bird consciousness. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Why did evolution create consciousness and do it more than once?

Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum are investigating why consciousness evolved and why different species have developed it in different ways. By comparing humans to birds, they show that complex consciousness may arise through different neural structures.
Rape. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Walls of Silence: Why is the world silent when women are raped in war?

New research by Prof. Shulamit Almog and Dr. Gal Amir from the University of Haifa reveals four "walls of silence" surrounding sexual violence during wartime - from politics and international cynicism through collective and personal shame to trauma
Predators and keep fish populations healthy. Female sandbar shark. Photo: Meron Segev, Sharks Association in Israel

The Hadera sand shark: A giant predator, a warming sea, and new questions about the Mediterranean Sea

Dozens of sandbar sharks gather every winter in the warm waters of the Hadera and Ashkelon power plants – Dr. Adi Barash reveals a species that is not considered Mediterranean at all, explains their role as apex predators, the threats from fishing