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Dr. Yohai Kaspi is part of the Juno Science team that hopes to answer some burning questions about the largest planet in the Solar System

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Bowtie-shaped nanostructures may advance the development of quantum devices

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isrupted fetal immune system development, such as that caused by viral infection in the mother, may be a key factor in the later appearance of certain neurodevelopmental disorders. This finding emerges from a Weizmann Institute study published in Science on June 23.

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Weizmann Institute scientists engineer bacteria to create sugar from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide

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Weizmann Institute of Science researchers found that a stress receptor in the brain regulates metabolic responses to stressful situations differently in male and female mice. The results could aid in the development of treatments for regulating hunger or stress responses, including anxiety and depression.

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The world’s corals are dying, with tremendous effects on climate and ocean health – however, much about why coral dies is still unknown. Now, a team at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created a new experimental platform – a “coral on a chip” – that lets them grow coral in the lab to study the structures’ complicated lives at microscale resolution.

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Using optogenetics to study long-range communication across the brain, Dr. Ofer Yizhar and his Weizmann Institute of Science team temporarily silenced long-range axons so as to determine their role in the brain’s conversation. As mental and neurological diseases are thought to be related to disrupted long-range connectivity, the team’s findings could lead to better understanding and treatment of such disorders.

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A class of 9th-grade girls beat over 400 other classes to win this year’s Ilan Ramon Space Olympics in Israel. The final competition was held at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which helps organize the annual event. The team’s winning project – which earned a telescope for their Jerusalem school – was a satellite that would scatter nanolabs on an asteroid.

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Why are some people so much more anxious than others? New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that there are fundamental differences in the way anxious persons perceive the world. In a process called overgeneralization, even neutral stimuli can remind them of emotionally charged stimuli, triggering anxiety.

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A team at the Weizmann Institute of Science found that when spherical nanoparticles self-assembled into a cluster, empty spaces – “flasks” – formed between them, as between oranges packed in a case. They were able to produce a range of chemical reactions in the flasks that were 100 times faster than in solution. The many potential applications include drug delivery.

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When sick, we assume that our aches, fever, etc., are from a virus or bacteria, but now a team of scientists have a novel hypothesis: evolution. The genes that trigger symptoms which encourage us to stay home are actually focused on their own survival – in the group as a whole, if not in us.

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The Weizmann Institute-developed TOOKAD® Soluble has been approved in Mexico for use in treating prostate cancer. The therapy, which has no side effects, offers men with early-stage prostate cancer a much-needed treatment alternative. Phase III trials have taken place in Europe and continue in the U.S.

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The Weizmann Institute of Science’s Prof. Michael Eisenbach previously revealed that sperm use multiple navigation systems, such as heat-seeking and chemical. Now he has found that opsins – proteins involved in the visual system – contribute to the heat-seeking movement, helping sperm sense warmth.

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The Weizmann Institute of Science’s Dr. Ayelet Erez, an MD/PhD who has treated rare childhood diseases, found that a protein that is missing in one such disease is also silenced by many cancers. Looking at how the lack of the protein affects the sick children also provides a “lens” on cancer.

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• The Weizmann Institute Quantum Optics team has devised a way to pluck a single photon from a pulse of light. This breakthrough can both aid further basic research into the nature of light and help advance quantum communication systems, which will likely be based on single photons.

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Prof. Eran Segal and Dr. Eran Elinav’s Personalized Nutrition Project at the Weizmann Institute of Science has released new results underscoring the importance of a personalized diet, prepared based on complex factors such as your gut microbes and lifestyle. Surprisingly, the foods that raise blood sugar levels differ dramatically from person to person.

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Prof. Avihai Danon has discovered plants’ “off” switch for producing starch, 50 years after the “on” switch was found. Further, his team at the Weizmann Institute learned that the on and off switches are active at the same time, which is like driving while pressing both the gas and the brakes – but why?

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The Weizmann Institute of Science’s Prof. Yair Reisner and team have identified a subtype of immune cells – perforin – that appears to prevent metabolic syndrome. Mice that lack perforin become obese and develop the syndrome, no matter how healthy their diet is. The study may also shed light on autoimmunity.

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• Prof. Yardena Samuels and her team at the Weizmann Institute of Science have found a tumor suppressor gene, RASA2, that drives a particularly deadly form of melanoma as well as regulates a key protein, RAS, that is a major oncogene. The discovery is “highly likely to have direct clinical relevance.”

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As we age, our biological clocks wind down – but why? A Weizmann Institute team studying circadian clocks has found a clue: a link between the clocks and a group of metabolites called polyamines. When added to the drinking water of older mice, polyamines reversed some signs of aging; naturally found in many foods, it’s possible they could do the same for us.