Toward a Treatment for Huntington’s Disease
Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have discovered two small molecules that can cross the blood-brain barrier in mice, slowing and even reversing the effects of Huntington’s, which is incurable. The...
Proteins without Parents
Using three AI protein prediction tools, a Chinese-Israeli study at the Weizmann Institute of Science uncovered new wrinkles in the folding story of ‘orphan’ proteins. When Weizmann Professors Joel Sussman...
Standing United: When Immune Cells Join Forces, Cancer Therapy Is More Effective
A new kind of immunotherapy, based on crosstalk between different immune cells, could pave the way for innovative treatments of cancer and autoimmune diseases Winning on the battlefield takes a...
Tears without Fears: Sniffing Women’s Tears Reduces Aggression in Men
New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that exposure to tears activates human smell receptors and alters aggression-related circuits in the brain. All land mammals have tear glands...
Why People with Diabetes Are More Prone to Respiratory Risk
A new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals how high blood sugar makes lung infections worse and the findings may lead to a strategy for reversing this susceptibility....
Unlocking a Secret Nerve Cell Regenerator
New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals that a protein facilitating nerve cell repair in the peripheral nervous system might one day point to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases....
Traces of Trauma in the Young Brain – and How to Erase Them
Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have revealed in mice how exposure to trauma in infancy alters the brain; they show that early treatment to reverse these changes is vital for...
Newly Discovered Autoimmune Disorder Disrupts Tooth Enamel Development
A new study lead by the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that celiac disease in children might be associated with sensitivity to a protein abundant in dairy products. The new...
An open-access format for drug discovery is helping design medications against potential viral threats
An international crowd-sourced campaign to discover an anti-COVID-19 drug has created a blueprint for the accelerated, patent-free development of drugs to treat viral threats to humanity. The results of the...
Synthetic human embryo models up to 14 days old grown from stem cells in Weizmann Lab
A research team headed by Professor Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created complete models of human embryos from stem cells cultured in the lab – and...
Vive la Différence: Brain Cells of Males and Females Respond Differently to Chronic Stress
A new study in mice could pave the way to personalised therapy for depression, anxiety and other stress-related disorders known to produce different effects on men and women. Scientific excellence...
How B-Cell Eaters Clean Their Plates
Mysterious macrophages, found to rapidly digest dying B cells, may hold clues to future treatments of autoimmune disorders new Weizmann research shows. Parents tell their children to eat all the...
Plant Research Reaches a New High
A South African plant called a woolly umbrella is completely unrelated to the cannabis plant, yet it makes a slew of the active compounds found in cannabis – cannabinoids –...
Decades-Old Mystery of Red Blood Cell Production Finally Solved
To get life-giving oxygen into every cell, the human body produces two to three million oxygen-carrying red blood cells, or erythrocytes, each second – about one-quarter of all the new...
Down to the Synapse: Connecting Brain Circuits to Behaviour
When a threat is looming and an escape route is open, one would expect any animal to flee imminent danger. But when microscopic worms faced a threatening signal in a...
Weizmann Institute scientists reveal how viruses outwit cellular immune systems
We are used to thinking of the immune system as a separate entity, almost a distinct organ, but the truth is much more complicated. Breakthroughs in recent years – some...
Neurons Caught Rapidly Switching Gears
Even during routine tasks such as a daily stroll, our brain needs to shift gears, switching from navigating the city to jumping out of the way of a bike or...
Sweetness That Comes at a Price: Sugar Substitutes May Affect the Human Body in Unanticipated Ways
Non-nutritive sweeteners – also known as sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners – are supposed to deliver all the sweetness of sugar without the calories. But a controlled trial conducted by...
The Viruses That Fight Disease: A Surprising Precision Weapon against Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis
The myriads of microbes in our gut, collectively termed the microbiome, are considered important to our health, but they can also harbour bacteria that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease or...
Without Egg, Sperm or Womb: Synthetic Mouse Embryo Models Created Solely from Stem Cells, Outside the Uterus
An egg meets a sperm – that’s a necessary first step in life’s beginnings, and it’s also a common first step in embryonic development research. But in a Weizmann Institute...