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FACS Newsletter 1/2003 The Weizmann Institute of Science
Ariela Rosen Greenberg
Publications and Media Relations Department
The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
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The Weizmann Institute of Science is one of the leading basic research institutions worldwide in all areas of natural and exact sciences. Its 18 departments are organized into five faculties: Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biology. In addition, there is the Feinberg Graduate School, the Institute¡¯s university branch, which includes a Science Teaching Department and a Youth Activities Section that was recently renamed Young@Science. |
| At any given time, some 1,200 research projects at the forefront of international science are being conducted at the Institute. The presence of scientists from different disciplines on the Institute¡¯s relatively small campus provides considerable impetus for interdisciplinary research, giving rise to fascinating encounters between diverse scientific fields that rarely converge elsewhere in the world. |
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The Weizmann Institute grew out of the modest Daniel Sieff Research Institute, founded in 1934 by Israel and Rebecca Sieff of the United Kingdom in memory of their son. The driving force behind its establishment was the Institute¡¯s first President, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a noted chemist who for years headed the Zionist movement and later became the first President of Israel.
In 1949, with the agreement of the Sieff family, the Institute was renamed and formally dedicated as the Weizmann Institute of Science in honor of Dr. Weizmann¡¯s 75th birthday. A decision was made to expand the Institute and turn it into a large-scale multidisciplinary research center.
Growing from 13 buildings, a 600-strong staff and an annual budget of $4 million in the 1950s, today the Weizmann Institute campus of more than 80 buildings sprawls over a territory of 300 acres£¨1.2 sq. km£©
and is home to 2,500 employees. These include: 250 professors who head research groups; 850 scientists with a Ph.D. degree, engineers and technicians; some 1,000 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students; and roughly 400 administrative staff. The Institute¡¯s annual budget is approximately $173 million, of which less than 40% is provided by the government of Israel. The rest comes from research grants won by Institute scientists, as well as from donations and royalties.
Structure of the Weizmann Institute of Science
Cancer research
Approximately half of the Institute¡¯s research projects are in the life sciences, and of these, about half are related to cancer.
Institute scientists seek to understand the mechanisms responsible for turning a normal, |
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healthy cell into a
cancerous one.
Recognition of these mechanisms leads to the development of therapies and drugs that will block the unwanted processes and encourage the obstruction processes that the body itself employs against cancer. |
For example, Institute scientists have developed an original approach to bone marrow transplantation in leukemia patients, a method for early, noninvasive diagnosis of breast cancer and a method for killing cancerous cells by beaming infrared light on derivatives of chlorophyll introduced into the area of the tumor (chlorophyll is a pigment found in plants and some bacteria).
These approaches are already being tested in humans in clinical trials, and we hope that in the foreseeable future they will be available to doctors in Israel and throughout the world. |
Brain research
| The Weizmann Institute is one of the most important research centers in the world in the area of brain studies. |
| Institute scientists have developed new investigational methods for monitoring brain activity. Fruitful collaborations are ongoing among mathematicians, computer scientists, biologists and chemists who study the way the brain works and try to make use of this knowledge for building advanced robots and computerized vision systems. Basic research at the Institute may help develop treatments for degenerative disorders such as Parkinson¡¯s disease. |
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Multiple sclerosis
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Until several years ago there was no treatment for multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain, leading in severe cases to paralysis or even death. |
| Today two types of drugs for multiple sclerosis are on the market, both stemming from separate Weizmann Institute projects. One drug is Copaxone, produced and marketed by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Thanks to this drug, Teva grew from a small Israeli company into a giant international concern. The other drug is Rebif, produced and marketed by InterPharm, created for this purpose near the Weizmann Institute by the pharmaceutical giant Serono. Rebif is based on the protein interferon-beta, which is also part of two additional multiple sclerosis drugs. |
Solar energy research
Research in this area focuses on developing efficient and economically feasible ways to collect, store and transport solar energy.
Another avenue of research: production of efficient and environmentally friendly fuels, such as hydrogen, using solar energy. |
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Science for the young
| Weizmann Institute scientists are investing great efforts in science education. |
Activities in this field range from the development of new educational curricula and teacher training methods to the design of special programs that bring youth closer to science and engage them in the fun and excitement of scientific research. The Institute
holds special summer camps, including one for youth interested in science, music and art.
A special endeavor in this area is the Clore Garden of Science, the world¡¯s first interactive outdoor science museum. Its exhibits allow the visitor to experience various natural phenomena first-hand, thus learning about the world around us in an enjoyable and compelling manner. |
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Dr. Chaim Weizmann and the Weizmann House
Dr. Chaim Weizmann¡¯s entire life merged in itself science and statesmanship. He registered more than 120 patents, including the invention of an original biotechnological
method to produce acetone, which assisted the British in the manufacture of explosives during World War I. This research made Dr. Weizmann the first scientist to work in biotechnology. The invention helped him obtain the coveted Balfour Declaration, a significant step in the creation of the State of Israel. |
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In the area of statesmanship, Weizmann believed that Israel¡¯s future depended on its ability to be a science-generating society. He believed that this vision was possible if we could live in peace with our Arab neighbors. The Weizmann Institute continues to uphold these two universal values: science and peace. |
Yeda
Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. was established in 1959 to promote the commercial application of Institute research.
While the principal motivation of Institute scientists is that of scientific curiosity, their studies often lead to new insights, some of which can be translated into patents and products. Yeda plays an invaluable role in this process. |
We believe that there is no difference between basic and applied research. There is a difference between good and bad research, and we very much try to engage in good research, the kind that will profit and benefit humanity, be it in the material or intellectual arena.
For more information about Yeda, please visit:
http://yeda.weizmann.ac.il/ |
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Biological physics and multidisciplinary research
| One of the outstanding characteristics of the Weizmann Institute is that despite its relatively small size and scope, it brings together scientists from numerous and diverse disciplines: math, computer science, physics, chemistry and life sciences. |
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This situation stimulates contacts between scientists from different fields, sometimes leading to joint research projects. Thus, for example, the Institute is a world leader in the area of biological physics. Institute physicists apply their expertise to the study of mechanisms at work in live cells, thereby developing original methods for mapping genes and the networks of numerous proteins taking part in complex biological processes. |
| Another example: an Institute mathematician has developed a biological nano-computer on the basis of molecules of the genetic material, the DNA. One billion of such ¡°biological nano-computers¡± can co-exist and work together in one drop of solution. Scientists working in this area hope that in the distant future, such
¡°computers,¡± working inside the body cells, will be able to identify emerging diseases and automatically produce drugs to block these diseases. |
The Human Genome Project
The genetic material, the DNA, whose copies are found in nearly all cells of our bodies, consists of some 3 billion chemical ¡°letters.¡± This long ¡°text¡± is divided into some 40,000 ¡°sentences,¡± the genes, and into additional segments that contain the ¡°operating instructions¡± of various genes.
To a large extent, all our diseases and traits are encoded by genes, which contain information for building proteins, the major constituents of the dry matter in every plant or animal on earth. |
Some ten years ago the U.S. government decided to launch an international project to map and decipher the human genome, in other words, to read all the 3 billion ¡°letters¡± making up the DNA in our bodies. The Israeli center of this gigantic endeavor was established at the Weizmann Institute.
In the year 2000, the entire draft of the human genome was completed, and since then scientists have been busy identifying and deciphering the information encoded in individual genes. At the Weizmann Institute, scientists have, for example, discovered and deciphered genes involved in causing heart attacks, a particular type of leukemia, a type of muscular degeneration and others. |
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| The genome project has been followed up with the proteomics project, aimed at discovering the structure and function of the proteins in our bodies. If you recall that all diseases stem from defective proteins or form an excess or shortage of a particular protein, it¡¯s easy to understand the importance of this project, intended to enable the development of new drugs that will be much more effective than existing ones. |
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