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Genetics

Fertilization process illustration: depositphotos.com

Eggs from men and sperm cells from women: How stem cells may change the way we reproduce

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In theory, a male skin cell can be turned into an egg and a female skin cell into a sperm cell. There is also the possibility of a child genetically connected to several parents, or only to one parent
Monsoon rains in a rural area in India.

Heavy rain is about to fall

Weizmann Institute scientists have shown that dry air crossing the equator intensifies the monsoon rains over India. These surprising findings may improve flood warning capabilities and be good news for hundreds of millions
Entry of an insulin molecule into a human cell. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Why are diabetics more susceptible to respiratory infections?

35% of the corona patients who died in the epidemic were diabetics. In a new study, Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveal that high blood sugar levels disrupt the immune system's ability to fight lung infections and present a therapeutic approach that may save lives
Milk teeth in children. Illustration: depositphotos.com

An autoimmune disease has been discovered that affects the development of tooth enamel and is common among children with celiac disease

The development of the disease in celiac patients is probably related to sensitivity to the protein common in industrialized dairy products. The findings pave the way for early detection of the disease and its prevention
Hadas Calderon with a picture of her son Erez who was kidnapped to Gaza together with his father Ofer and his sister Sahar. The photo was taken on October 30, 2023. Sahar and Erez were later released. Ofer is still in captivity. Photo: L.A.M

The nervous mechanism that goes wrong as a result of exposure to a severe event at a tender age

Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveal in unprecedented detail how trauma in newborn mice shapes their brains and impairs their social functions in adulthood * A corresponding behavioral expression in humans may take the form of a high level of introversion, social anxiety and avoidant personality - behaviors known to characterize post-trauma"
Right: The solar field in Arava where the measurements were made. Left: Yatir Forest in the Northern Negev - the largest of KKL-Junk's planted forests. Photographs: Yonatan Muller

The solar forest

Trees or solar panels - which strategy wins in dealing with the climate crisis?
Visualization of the XNUMXD structure of a key protein in the coronavirus: the main protease enzyme essential for its ability to replicate and thrive (marked in turquoise). The researchers were looking for molecules that could bind to different targets on the protein (marked in yellow) and thus block its activity. Source: Diamond Light Source

The COVID Moonshot Partnership Presents: A Roadmap for Accelerated Drug Development and Coping with Future Pandemics

A tweet by Prof. Nir London from the Weizmann Institute of Science grew into an international partnership to find a cure for Corona based on the principles of open science and crowd wisdom. Now the scientists involved are laying the groundwork to deal with the next epidemic
Mitochondrial transplantation in cells whose mitochondrial function is impaired. improves their function and saves them from death. Dr. Ziv Rothfogel from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

save the retinal cells

How can cells in the retina that have been damaged by lack of blood supply be restored? Mitochondrial transplantation contributes to the survival of damaged neurons in the retina of mice
Figure 1. Methods for vaccine production before the corona epidemic. (Courtesy of the Committee for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine): Use of a weakened or inactive virus and a recombinant protein (the virus) that is transferred to the body via a viral vector and activates the immune system. Courtesy of the Nobel Prize Committee

Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 for the pioneers in the field of mRNA who accelerated the vaccines for Corona

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Kariko and Weissman immediately realized that their discovery was of enormous significance for the possible use of messenger RNA in medicine. These important findings were published in 2005, 15 years before the outbreak of the Corona epidemic.
Tissues removed from mice implanted with lung cancer cells engineered to produce high amounts of PSME4 (left column) or unmodified cancer cells (right column). When the protein is expressed in a high amount, the tumor is larger (top row, the tumor cells are marked in intense and concentrated purple), the number of T cells that can fight the tumor is lower (middle row, in white), and there are more cells that suppress the immune response (bottom row, in green)

The cancer to the basket and eliminated

The cell's garbage disposal system changes in cancer and allows it to escape the immune system
Histological sections of the leg muscles without injury (left) and five days after it (center, right) in a control mouse and a transgenic mouse. It can be seen that the area of ​​the muscle fibers that develop after the injury is smaller in the transgenic mouse, which indicates a disturbance in the differentiation of the stem cells into muscle cells

overcome the damage

Researchers have discovered that two epigenetic events (removing and adding methyl from DNA) lead to the differentiation of stem cells into muscle cells and thus to the regeneration and healing of muscles after their injury
The molecule that carries with it a message of regeneration You are here Homepage > Publications > Science news in a friendly language > There is something new under the nerve Share tags Michael Feinzilbermike Feinzilber molecular neurobiology biomolecular sciences nervous system nerve cells communication between nerve cells Like geckos regrowing their tails, the nerve cell extensions in the peripheral nervous system also know how to regenerate after an injury. Unfortunately, the nerve cells of the central nervous system, i.e. the brain and spinal cord, have a much more limited ability to regenerate. Accordingly, diseases that lead to the degeneration and death of nerve cells in the brain, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, are irreversible and incurable. What exactly gives the peripheral system - the one that connects the brain and the spinal cord to the body's organs - an increased capacity for regeneration? A new study by Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveals that a protein, which until now has only been observed during embryonic development, has a key role in the regeneration of mature nerve cells of the peripheral nervous system. When embryonic cells differentiate into adult cells, the composition of the proteins they produce changes. In the case of nerve cells, it was common to think that a decrease in the levels of a protein called PTBP1 in embryonic cells is a key part of their transformation into mature cells of the nervous system. Previous studies have even shown that upon completion of the differentiation process and the transformation of the embryonic cells into mature nerve cells of the central nervous system, the production of the protein stops altogether. In recent years, these findings have led research groups to try to reproduce this process in the laboratory: to lower the PTBP1 protein levels in cells that are not nerve cells and thus produce mature nerve cells from them. The hope was that it would be possible to apply this method to patients with neurodegenerative diseases and to produce new nerve cells for them. From the right: Dr. Rinat Nebo, Dr. Natalya Okladnikov, Dr. Agustina Di Physio, Philip Freund, Dr. Ida Rischel, Prof. Michael (Mike) Feinzilber and Pierluigi Di Matteo However, in a new study, led by the researcher PhD candidate Dr. Stephanie Alber and doctoral student Pierluigi Di Matteo from the research group of Prof. Michael (Mike) Feinzylver in the Departments of Biomolecular Sciences and Molecular Neurobiology at the institute, it was surprisingly discovered that the PTBP1 protein is expressed not only in embryonic cells that have not yet undergone differentiation, but also in mature nerve cells - although not nerve cells of the central nervous system, but yes of the peripheral one. The researchers discovered this completely by accident, while studying processes in the sciatic nerve of mice, nerves that leave the spine and reach the foot. The original experiment carried out by the researchers was aimed at finding molecules that regulate the rate of production of another protein called KPNB1 - "postcarriage" - responsible for carrying most of the messages transmitted from the distant extensions of the nerve cells to the cell nucleus. Among its other functions, the KPNB1 protein is responsible for signaling to the cell nucleus that a nerve branch is injured, so that the cell can regenerate it. However, before the mail car can set off and carry messages from the branches to the nucleus, the cell is required to launch messenger RNA molecules that contain the "recipe" for the production of the mail car in the opposite path (from the nucleus to the branches). On the way or when arriving at the destination, other molecules may bind to the messenger, delaying or speeding it up and thus controlling the rate of production of the mail car. The surprising discovery in the new study was that not only was PTBP1 present in the mature cells, but it also bound tightly to the messenger RNA of the mail car. But does and how does it affect its production and the regeneration of nerve cells? "Tens of millions of people around the world suffer from diseases that lead to the degeneration and death of nerve cells in the brain. In order to understand why the central nervous system fails in its attempt to regenerate after an injury, we must first understand how the peripheral nervous system succeeds in doing so." To answer this question, the scientists followed the nerve cells' response to the injury and noticed that after three days the levels of PTBP1 in the cell began to rise and within A week they reached record levels. With the increase in PTBP1 levels, the researchers noticed that the nerve cell extensions begin to regenerate. Sequencing the messenger RNA molecules that bound to PTBP1 after the injury revealed that the protein binds not only to the messenger RNA molecules of the mail car, but also to other proteins that play a role in nerve regeneration. Dr. Stephanie Alber To continue investigating the activity of PTBP1 in adult cells, the researchers removed it from the cells through genetic engineering, and showed that as a result, the regeneration of nerve cells of the "alarm receptor" type - cells whose role is to transmit a sensation of pain in response to a harmful stimulus that could damage the tissue - was impaired. The scientists also examined whether silencing the gene had additional effects and discovered that it increased the sensitivity to mechanical stimuli and heat. In an attempt to deepen the understanding of how PTBP1 affects the regeneration of nerve cells, the researchers examined whether it also affects another protein, RHOA - an important "control switch" in the process of differentiation and regeneration of nerve cells. When the RHOA protein is produced at high levels, it acts as a sort of off switch that inhibits cell growth. The researchers discovered that PTBP1 suppresses the production of the control switch in the extensions of the nerve cells, thus enabling their growth and regeneration. These findings strengthen the possibility that the production of PTBP1 in peripheral nerve cells is what enables their efficient regeneration, unlike in the central nervous system. Sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system in culture.

There is a new one under the sadness

The molecule that carries with it a message of regeneration
The internal structure of an animal cell. Illustration: depositphotos.com

On bacteria and economy - the National Science Foundation

An examination of known growth laws that were discovered recently, led to the discovery of new growth laws
X and Y chromosomes. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The complete sequence of the human Y chromosome was assembled for the first time

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Scientists have successfully sequenced the entire human Y chromosome, revealing critical genomic features. This groundbreaking research offers deep insights into human biology and potential medical advances. The new sequence reveals genomic factors in fertility, including sperm production.
Bacterial cells before phage infection (left) and after (right). The virus replicates itself inside them and leads to the explosion of the cells and the spilling of their contents (in red - the bacterial DNA spilled from the cell)

Survive with 0% battery: an immune system that drains the cell of energy has been discovered

The new system was discovered in bacteria - but is also used in corals, bees and others
Lung macrophages infected with human cytomegalovirus. In bright green - the cells where there is an active infection

On dormant viruses and protective proteins

New discoveries about how the result of infection with a virus from the herpes family is determined and where dormant viruses may hide in the body
In the two large squares on the left, different biological structures can be seen that were scanned under a microscope. The squares on the right show the results of the scan as obtained by different methods, and it is clear that the highest resolution was achieved with DBlink technology - the rightmost square in each column.

A technology developed at the Technion enables monitoring of dynamic processes in living cells - and with high resolution

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The new technology - DBlink - is based on the SMLM method and an artificial intelligence algorithm (neural networks) and makes it possible to reproduce fast dynamics of biological objects in super-resolution in living cells
The fat and the thin: at the age of one year, a mouse without the SARAF gene (left) weighed 20% more than a healthy mouse (right)

The soft belly of calcium

Why do we tend to gain weight as we get older?
The genetic code in DNA. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The genetic code contains many synonymous 'words' - information theory may help explain the redundancies

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New research suggests that there may be two other significant factors that natural systems weigh: the information-theoretic nature of the genetic code and the principle of maximum entropy
An oligodendrocyte-type cell with many of its branches (in yellow) in a mouse brain section. Reacts to stress quite differently in males and females

Exposure to chronic stress activates different cells in the brains of females and males

From depression and anxiety to diabetes - health conditions resulting from chronic stress affect women and men differently. New study in mice maps at the single-cell level molecular differences in the stress response in the brains of females and males, and may pave the way for personalized treatments
Stem cells. Illustration: depositphotos.com

For the first time, human skin cells can be directly transformed into cells of a placenta

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A research team led by Prof. Yossi Buganim from the School of Medicine of the Hebrew University succeeded in reprogramming human skin cells into functional placental cells so that there is no need to extract stem cells from embryos
From the right: Dr. Yara Oppenheimer-Shanan and Dr. Tamir Klein. The race to the top

The bacteria that climbed a tall tree

dust storm Illustration: depositphotos.com

read in the dust

Forecasting dust storms is a complicated matter. A new study was able to predict storms in our region with a high level of accuracy - and thereby outline how artificial intelligence can be harnessed to understand processes in the atmosphere
A segment of the lymph node. Illustration: depositphotos.com

New information about phagocytic cells of the immune system may lead to treatments for incurable autoimmune diseases

The origin of the mysterious macrophages, known in scientific language as Tingible Body Macrophages (TBM), is in progenitor cells of the blood system that emerge from the bone marrow and settle in the lymph nodes, where they quickly and efficiently digest the remains of antibody-producing cells of the immune system
Cells. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Start with one cell

The long and winding road to doubling the amount of biological material available for research
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