https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/space-physics/living-quick-fix
December 29, 2014
Our DNA is thought to get damaged at the staggering rate of 50,000 times a day, mostly from byproducts of our metabolism and such external agents as sunlight and tobacco smoke. If left unmended, this damage can eventually lead to cancer, immunodeficiency, prem...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/use-it-or-lose-it
December 25, 2014
A 3-D computer model of a fruit fly muscle fiber with multiple nuclei Everyone knows that exercise can build muscle; without exercise, muscles quickly lose their strength and volume. These facts have been common knowledge for so long, it might come as a...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/math-computer-science/coin-toss-paradox
February 11, 2015
Alice and Bob are two fictional characters who love to play games with a mathematical bent. Here, for example, is one game they play: They toss coins and figure their odds of winning. What are their chances, for example, if Bob tosses a coin and Alice has to guess which side is u...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/cells-edge
February 2, 2015
Within the pancreas are little spherical structures called islets of Langerhans – a name that might conjure up images of cells lazing on a remote beach, sipping tropical drinks. That picture could not be further from the truth: The so-called beta cells, the major component of the...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/it-ain’t-over-till-it’s-over
February 4, 2015
More than half of the human body, by weight, is made up of water, yet scientists studying body chemistry have traditionally regarded water as a mere bystander – a neutral environment for various biochemical reactions. But that is starting to change: Current research is showing th...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/rewiring
February 2, 2015
Our brain’s networks are shaped, among other things, by our bodily interactions with the environment. How do our physical, daily activities affect our brain networks? Research student Avital Hahamy and Prof. Rafi Malach of the Neurobiology Department teamed up with a group of res...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/stopping-stem-cell-state
February 2, 2015
Scientists can now create cells that closely resemble embryonic stem cells in the lab. But what happens next? Because the use of these cells, called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, to treat disease will ultimately depend on how we learn to direct their fate, we als...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/use-it-or-lose-it-0
February 11, 2015
Everyone knows that exercise can build muscle; without exercise, muscles quickly lose their strength and volume. These facts have been common knowledge for so long, it might come as a surprise to find that very little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind them. How...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/seek-and-destroy
February 11, 2015
Prof. Lea Eisenbach of the Weizmann Institute’s Immunology Department wants to persuade the body’s immune system to fight cancer. The field of cancer immunotherapy – making use of the immune system’s weapons against malignancy – was selected the "Breakthrough of the...
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/bursting-activity
March 1, 2015
The heart gets all the glory in poetry and aphorisms, but it is the liver that plays a truly central role in orchestrating the entire body’s metabolism. In carrying out its many and varied tasks, the liver faces the tremendous challenge of constantly adjusting to changing conditi...