A bacterial model helps reveal how our bodies prevent population explosions – and cancer
For the size of any population to remain stable over time, its birth and death rates must be balanced. If the birthrate is too high, there could be a population explosion; if it is too low, the population will shrink. This kind of balance exists, for example, among...
Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Weizmann Institute develop the first-ever complete central nervous system on a chip: It faithfully emulates that of a human embryo, from the forebrain to the bottom of the spinal cord
Once upon a time, we were all nothing but a mass of densely packed stem cells. Over time, this mass elongated, sprouted limbs on either side, buttocks at the rear, a stomach in the front and a head on the top. The process by...
A bacterial model helps reveal how our bodies prevent population explosions – and cancer
For the size of any population to remain stable over time, its birth and death rates must be balanced. If the birthrate is too high, there could be a population explosion; if it is too low, the population will shrink. This kind of balance exists, for example, among...
A Weizmann Institute method for tracking the effects of drugs on zebrafish may help develop improved therapies for depression and other mood-related disorders
Psychedelics are a hot topic in labs all over the world because they hold great potential for relieving the symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mood-related conditions. Still, there is a major hurdle to developing these substances into safe, effective...
Shaping the Role of Future Physician-Scientists
The Weizmann Institute of Science, in a joint initiative with the Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Fund, is set to establish a medical school, through which it will launch a unique program to train the next generation of...
A machine learning model sheds new light on muscle development
Life sciences have never been more digital. To learn more about life processes, biologists are collecting massive quantities of data that computer scientists analyze by means of sophisticated computational models that they develop. Over the past few years, Dr. Ori...
High levels of defensive proteins offer protection against a hostile takeover by herpes viruses
“Let him who desires peace, prepare for war,” wrote the Roman author Vegetius in the 4th century CE. Our bodies, it seems, live by this dictum: Even in times of peace, some cells express high levels of defensive, antiviral proteins. A new Weizmann Institute of Science...
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 Parents tell their children to eat all the food on their plate, down to the last crumb. Certain cells within our lymph nodes, like obedient...
Weizmann Institute scientists have discovered how mutations in the BRCA genes, particularly prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews, lead to recruitment of cellular “assistants” in pancreatic cancer
Bullying, unfortunately, can be contagious. This applies not only at school or on the playground but also in the cellular neighborhood. That’s why in a new study, a team of researchers headed by Dr. Ruth Scherz-Shouval of the Weizmann Institute of Science focused not...
Changing the Channel: Study Sheds New Light on a Promising Antidepressant
A newly revealed mechanism of ketamine’s action on potassium channels in neurons may lead to improved therapies for depression Ketamine, a well-known anesthetic used in smaller doses as a party drug, was hailed as a “new hope for depression” in a Time magazine cover...