A new Weizmann Institute of Science method is providing an unprecedented glimpse into the relationship between bacteria and their host cells. Like people, bacteria have their preferences when it comes to relationships. Some are totally independent, while others prefer...
Will a better understanding of photosynthesis help us grow plants under artificial light? New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science is looking to answer this question. Photosynthesis, the process by which plants, algae and certain kinds of bacteria convert...
Bacteria that cause life-threatening infections sometimes resort to the nastiest ploy of all: Stealing the human body's defence weapons and exploiting them to their own advantage. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now uncovered one such...
By tracking the evolution of what may be our oldest means of fighting off viral infection, a group at the Weizmann Institute of Science has uncovered a gold mine of antiviral substances that may lead to the development of highly effective antiviral drugs. These...
Bacteria in the lab of Professor Ron Milo at the Weizmann Institute of Science have not just sworn off sugar, they have stopped eating their normal solid food, existing instead on carbon dioxide (CO2) from their environment. This bacteria could contribute to new and...
The question of nature vs nurture extends to our microbiome – the personal complement of mostly-friendly bacteria we carry around with us and a new study brings more hope for improving our health. Study after study has found that our microbiome affects nearly every...
A systematic study by the Weizmann Institute of Science, uncovering multiple new and unusual bacterial immune defence mechanisms which could pave the way toward new biotech tools, has just been published in Science. Until a decade ago, scientists were not aware that...
There is another reason why chemotherapy sometimes does not work: bacteria. In a study published in Science, researchers found that certain bacteria can be found inside human pancreatic tumours, with some containing an enzyme that inactivates a common drug used to...
Israel is subjected to sand and dust storms from several directions: northeast from the Sahara, northwest from Saudi Arabia and southwest from the desert regions of Syria. The airborne dust carried in these storms affects the health of people and ecosystems alike. New...
Viruses may be stealthy invaders, but a study reported in Nature from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals a new, chatty side of some: For the first time, viruses have been found communicating with one another. This communication – short 'posts' left for kin and...
Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have engineered bacteria that can create sugar from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). Recently reported in Chem Europe the researchers posed the question: Is it possible to reprogram an organism that is found higher in...
For some time, the scientific world believed we had 10 times more bacteria and microbes in our bodies than human cells. But new Weizmann research, recently published in the Journal Cell, has recalculated this to reveal the ratio is actually nearer 1:1. This myth...