How do some microorganisms manage to exist and even thrive in surroundings ranging from Antarctica to boiling hot springs? A team of scientists from the Weizmann Institute's Plant Sciences Department, has found that a switch in just two amino acids can make a difference between functioning best at moderate temperatures and being adapted to living in extreme heat.
Dr. Mary-Claire King, a distinguished geneticist who has made influential discoveries in multiple fields of research, received the seventh Weizmann Women & Science Award. Established in 1994 by Sara Lee Schupf, the biennial award honors outstanding women scientists in the U.S. who have made a major contribution in science, technology, or engineering.
DNA "“ the long, thin molecule that carries our hereditary material "“ is compressed around protein scaffolding in the cell nucleus into tiny spheres called nucleosomes. The bead-like nucleosomes are strung along the entire chromosome, which is itself folded and packaged to fit into the nucleus. What determines how, when and where a nucleosome will be positioned along the DNA sequence?
A new paper by Dr. Ilan Koren of the Weizmann Institute Environmental Studies and Energy Research Department and Dr. Yoram Kauffman of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, USA,* published in Science Express online, weaves together two opposing effects of atmospheric aerosols to provide a comprehensive picture of how they may be affecting our climate.
A team of researchers led by Prof. Irun Cohen of the Weizmann Institute of Science Immunology Department has revealed the molecular mechanism of a vaccine for Type 1 diabetes. The new findings should help amplify the effectiveness of the vaccine, which is currently in advanced stages of clinical trials.
Though we think of them as solid and permanent, our bones are actually constantly being rebuilt throughout our lives. A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has now revealed how cells that work at remodeling the bones play a direct part in the ongoing renewal of another system "“ the blood.
Millions of diabetics face a lifetime of daily injections to replace the insulin their bodies fail to produce, as well as a host of risks that includes blindness, amputation, kidney failure, and heart disease. For many, particularly those afflicted with juvenile diabetes, transplants of the pancreatic tissue in which insulin is produced might alleviate these problems. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough organ donors available for transplantation.
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science has announced that Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., who is internationally known for her contributions to the field of genetics, will receive the 2006 Weizmann Women & Science Award. The Award will be presented by journalist Lesley Stahl, correspondent for the CBS program 60 Minutes, at a ceremony at Rockefeller University on June 12.
Like blind peoples' fingers, rats use their whiskers to engage in active sensing "“ a combination of movement and touch "“ when trying to figure out the location and identity of a certain object.
"Moving mountains" has come to mean doing the impossible. Yet at least once in the past, one mountain relocated a fair distance away. This feat took place around 50 million years ago, in the area of the present-day border between Montana and Wyoming. Heart Mountain was part of a larger mountain range when the 100 km (62 mile) long ridge somehow became detached from its position and shifted about 100 km to the southwest.
Louis Pasteur said that "chance favors the prepared mind." For Prof. Nava Dekel of the Weizmann Institute's Biological Regulation Department, some completely unexpected results of biopsies performed on women with fertility problems have led to a new path of scientific discovery that may hold hope for women trying to conceive.
Can one literally "lose oneself" in an experience? Many theoretical models of the mind reject this notion, proposing that awareness is dependent on the mediation of areas involved in self representation "“ a vigilant, self-aware "observer" network "“ in the human brain.
How do we succeed in putting our ideas into words, so that another person can understand them? This complex undertaking involves translating an idea into a one-dimensional sequence, a string of words to be read or spoken one after the other.
Everyone knows mutations "“ genetic mistakes in DNA, the material of heredity "“ are bad: The more mutations in the cell's DNA, the higher the risk of cancer developing. But in the last few years it has become clear that the very processes that generate mutations, if they take place at a relatively low frequency, can actually protect us from cancer.
Representatives of Bar-Ilan University and the Weizmann Institute of Science have signed an agreement to collaborate on a unique program for multidisciplinary teaching and research in archaeology and the natural sciences.
A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute, headed by Prof. Hadassa Degani of the Biological Regulation Department, has come up with a non-invasive, magnetic resonance imaging- (MRI-) based method for predicting possible problems with chemotherapy drugs.
A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed a method that could speed up the process of identifying novel protein molecules for medical or biological research hundreds of times over.
Is there a universal neural code for sensation, similar to the genetic code, in which the complexity of sense and experience can be reduced to a few simple rules? According to Prof. Ehud Ahissar of the Weizmann Institute's Neurobiology Department, the answer might be no.
Could engineers have known ahead of time exactly how much pressure the levees protecting New Orleans could withstand before giving way? Is it possible to predict when and under what conditions material wear and tear will become critical, causing planes to crash or bridges to collapse?
Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science recently discovered a new source of well-preserved ancient DNA in fossil bones.
A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, led by Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Neurobiology Department, has come up with new findings that may have implications in delaying and slowing down cognitive deterioration in old age.
Some fundamental outstanding questions in science "“ "Where do stem cells originate?" "How does cancer develop?" "When do cell types split off from each other in the embryo?" "“ might be answered if scientists had a way to map the history of the body's cells going back to the fertilized egg.
One out of 12 people in the western world suffers from type 2 (adult onset) diabetes. Worldwide, 150 million people are diabetic and their numbers are expected to double in the next 20 years, a result of the growing obesity epidemic.
New findings show an iron storage molecule in the cell can serve as an advanced tool for mapping gene expression. Future gene therapy may use a technique in which non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging is used to track this molecule.
Soon after fertilization, the cells in an embryo, which have been dividing furiously from the start, begin to take on different forms and to separate into layers that will eventually give rise to the organism's various tissues and organs.
A team of scientists has shown exactly why a new drug that's been proven effective against colon cancer sometimes has serious side effects. Their hope is that these findings will allow the drug's design to be improved so as to lower the incidence of these side effects.
Cancer patients may one day benefit from treatment with mixtures of customized antibodies. In a study, a team of scientists have demonstrated how the right combination might form a web that destroys the cancer cell's communication network, ultimately demobilizing the cell.
In a recent study, researchers paired the active ingredient of a garden remedy with advanced bio-technology to deliver a powerful punch against cancer. The cancer killing effectiveness lies in their technique of arming a cancer-targeting antibody with the destructive potential of the dietary molecule otherwise known as "allicin."
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have demonstrated a new kind of electrical switch, formed of organic molecules, that could be used in the future in nanoscale electronic components.
When the first matter came into being right after the big bang, what was it like? It may not have been quite as scientists have been describing it. That is one of the possibilities raised by four international teams of researchers.
Retroviruses are among the trickier and more malicious disease agents, causing AIDS and cancers such as leukemia. The viruses manage to sneak into cells with the help of special protein assemblies scattered all over their surfaces.
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science will receive a $20 million gift from the family of its President, Dr. Albert Willner, to establish and endow the Willner Family Leadership Institute.
If there were no bench for second-string players on a football team, who would substitute for tired or injured team members? A team of scientists has found that, if the team were made up of genes, they might pull athletes who can play a little football in a pinch from nearby basketball or rugby teams.
Cancer growth is a long, complex, multi-stage process involving a variety of different "players." This complexity is part of the difficulty facing cancer researchers. Meanwhile, each discovery or identification of a new "player," or previously unknown stage in the process, offers new opportunities for blocking the disease.
Long distance messengers star in many heroic tales, perhaps the most famous being the one about the runner who carried the news about the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the fateful battle of Marathon.
Scientists have determined distinct gestational time windows for the growth of transplanted pig embryonic liver, pancreas and lung precursor tissue into functioning organs in mice. These findings could help enhance the chances for successful implementation of embryonic pig tissue in the treatment of human diseases.
Evolution is something of a gamble: in order to stay a step ahead of a shifting environment, organisms must change or risk extinction. Yet the instrument of this change, mutation, carries a serious threat: mutations are hundreds of times more likely to be harmful to the organism than advantageous.
The Weizmann Institute of Science today announced that a research group headed by Dr. Ernesto Joselevich has developed a new approach to create patterns of carbon nanotubes by formation along atomic steps on sapphire surfaces.
The sea urchin's tough, brittle spines are an engineering wonder. Composed of a single crystal from base to needle-sharp tip, they grow back within a few days after being broken off. Now, a team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has shown how they do it.
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science announced today that the Weizmann Institute in Israel has been awarded an $8 million grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute.
Prof. Ehud Shapiro has received the 2004 World Technology Award for Biotechnology. The award is one of 30 given yearly by the World Technology Network to those individuals and organizations whose innovations are likely to have a major impact on the technology and society of the future.
Scientist's vision: microscopic computers that will function inside living tissues, performing diagnosis and administering treatment.
A rose is a rose is a rose, but do we and the artist and poet all see the same flower in the same way? This age-old philosophical question has now been put to the test by scientists.
Kidney disease may affect as many as one in twelve people, and causes millions of deaths each year. Currently, the diagnosis of kidney function relies mainly on blood and urine tests, an indirect means of figuring out how well they're working.
The "scanning electron microscope" (SEM) has been a basic research tool for fifty years, and for those fifty years, scientists have been looking for better ways to observe biological samples under its beam.
Weizmann Institute scientists have created a new type of nanotube built of gold, silver and other nanoparticles. The tubes exhibit unique electrical, optical and other properties, depending on their components, and as such, may form the basis for future nanosensors, catalysts and chemistry-on-a-chip systems.
A new study has now uncovered a key process leading to the regeneration of peripheral nerves. Knowing how neurons in the peripheral nervous system regenerate could provide insights into fixing neurons in the central nervous system where damage is irreversible.
Our fingers run over surfaces; our eyes are in constant motion. This is all a part of "active sensing," key principles of which have now been uncovered by a study.
Billions of cells divide every day in our bodies to replace those that wear out. To be able to do so, their DNA must be copied. A new study shows that the molecules in charge of the task of copying DNA are able to improvise in order to achieve this crucially important goal.
New method tracking single atoms may lead to improved drug design.
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