Author: AUFTAU

Want to Live a Long Life? Consider Investing in Your Marriage.

Written by AUFTAU on 2 July 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

Want to live a long and healthy life? For the men among us, TAU researchers’ best advice is to invest in our relationship.

As Harmful as Smoking

“Our study shows that the quality of marriage and family life has health implications for life expectancy. Men who reported they perceived their marriage as failure died younger than those who experienced their marriages as very successful. In other words, the level of satisfaction with marriage has emerged as a predictive factor for life expectancy at a rate comparable with smoking (smokers versus non-smokers) and physical activity (activity versus inactivity)”, said one of the study’s lead researchers, Dr. Shahar Lev-Ari, head of the Department of Health Promotion at TAU’s School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

“Furthermore, it’s important to note that we observed a higher risk among relatively young men, under the age of 50. At a higher age, the gap is smaller, perhaps due to processes of adjustment that life partners go through over time.”

The study was based on extensive health data from more than 30 years of research that tracked the deaths of 10,000 Israeli men.

In addition to Dr. Lev-Ari, lead researchers from the School of Public Health at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine also included: Prof. Uri Goldbort from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, who initiated and managed the long-term study, and Dr. Yiftah Gapner, from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. The article was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

As part of the study, the researchers conducted statistical analyses of a database launched in the 1960s. For 32 years, they tracked the health and behavior of 10,000 male Israel state employees, paying special attention to death from strokes and premature death in general.

At the beginning of the study, most of the participants were in their 40s. Since then, 64% died from a range of illnesses. “We wanted to analyze the data gathered longitudinally using various parameters to identify behavioral and psychosocial risk factors that can predict death from a CVA [a cerebrovascular accident or, in other words, a stroke] and premature death for any reason,” Dr. Lev-Ari explains.

Early in the 32-year-long study, participants were asked to rank their level of marriage satisfaction on a scale of 1 (marriage is very successful) to 4 (marriage is unsuccessful). To the researchers’ surprise, this scale would prove to be a predictive factor for life expectancy, highly similar to smoking and lack of physical activity. The number of deceased from a stroke was 69% higher among those who ranked their marriage satisfaction at 4 (i.e. marriage is unsuccessful) compared to those who ranked their marriage satisfaction very highly. The overall mortality was 19% higher among the unhappily married. The researchers note that the gaps were even larger among men who were relatively young (under 50) at the beginning of the study.

In addition, the researchers conducted a statistical analysis of all known risk factors contributing to death from cardiovascular diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, excessive BMI, and socioeconomic status. Here, too, the data showed that the relative risk of death for any reason among the unhappily married was 1.21 higher than among those satisfied with their marriages. This rate is similar to data cited in medical literature regarding smokers and those leading a sedentary life.

Your list of healthy habits just got a bit longer, guys. But remember, knowledge is power – and next time you go to the gym, perhaps you could make it a date?

The Faculty of Engineering Predicts: A Greener and Safer Future

Written by AUFTAU on 2 July 2021. Posted in Magazine, Newsroom.

Graduates of TAU’s School of Mechanical Engineering present innovative projects.

Just like every year, graduates of the School of Mechanical Engineering of The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering recently presented the projects they have been working on throughout their final year of studying towards their degree. A lot of ground was covered, with one project promising those suffering from nightmares after trauma to sleep peacefully, another offering a robot capable of disinfecting aircrafts from viruses, and other teams have developed drones designed and developed to transport defibrillators and first aid kits through areas that are either difficult or downright impossible to access from the ground. Seeing these original ideas makes it clear how the faculty’s motto is befitting for those who enter (and perhaps even more so for those who exit) its gates: “Those who fall in love with a problem are the ones who will find a solution to it.”

Thinking Within the Box

We use them every day, usually multiple times a day, but how much thought do we dedicate to the garbage bins in our homes? And, while we’re on the subject, have you ever thought to calculate how many garbage bags you dispose of every year? As environmentally-conscious people, Tal Kelmachter and Nimrod Ben-Yehuda have given this more than a little thought, and got inspired to design their very own garbage can.

The exterior part of the bin does not distinguish itself much from your standard garbage bin. The secret is hidden within the box: the uniqueness of this product is that it does not require a plastic bag, which is an environmental hazard. Nimrod explains, “We designed it as a stand-alone solution which does not require any special infrastructure, like drainage, water supply and electricity. Once you have emptied the contents of the garbage bin, an integral rinsing mechanism cleanses it on the inside, easily and quickly. The water is contained in a clean water container, and a mechanical pump forces the water through a system of pipes with a no-return valve to a system of sprinklers that showers the sides of the tin from the inside. The dirty water then flows into a dedicated water drawer which is easy to empty. The result is a garbage bin that remains clean and free of bad odors and contaminants.”

Tal adds, “During the past few years there has been increased awareness which has led to a growing trend of reducing plastic use and recycling. And yet, there is currently no product on the market that completely prevents the use of garbage bags. Nimrod and I managed to find a solution to this problem.”

Tal Kelmachter and Nimrod Ben-Yehuda with their green garbage bin, ECOCAN

Enjoy the Ride

A few minutes into Aviv Halachmi’s motorcycle drive to his girlfriend in Beer Sheva, his headset ran out of battery. The annoying experience motivated Aviv to form the ChargElmet team together with fellow students Tal Belilty and Itay Shulman.

“Motorcyclists attach a variety of electronic components to their helmets, such as hands free and camera, in order to enhance their riding experience. These utilities have batteries that require charging. We designed and built a system which uses the wind and the sun to produce green energy to charge gadgets from motorcycle helmets while you travel”, says Aviv.

Did the project become a smoother ride than Aviv’s trip to his girlfriend? Not at all. The team ran into plenty of difficulties along the way: “The system we created is multidisciplinary and contains a lot of engineering elements from various fields, not all related to mechanical engineering, such as electrical diagrams, electrical design including the investigation and selection of the appropriate cards and components and much more. So, we were forced to learn a lot while on the job. That being said, solving issues that arose throughout the process and accomplishing the end product brought us tremendous satisfaction,” he shares.

Aviv concludes, “For now, our invention is geared towards motorcyclists and improving their lives. In the future, we plan to expand the project to address all two-wheelers (bicycles, scooters…). On a macro level, our vision is to improve public awareness of green energy and to take part in the global trend of promoting and transitioning to renewable energy.”

Itay Shulman, Tal Belilty and Aviv Halachmi found a way to improve other motorcyclists’ lives

Hover and Save

This year, the presence of the drone stood out in the Innovate project (a cooperation between TAU and Elbit Systems Ltd), which encompasses several complementary projects on the subject of detecting, rescuing and making life-saving first aid accessible to those trapped under earthquake ruins.

May Davidovich and Ariel Drizin tell us about their part in the project:” We presented a design and a preliminary prototype for a robotic first aid release arm system, installed on a drone and controlled by a dedicated control system, making it easier for the rescue forces to maneuver among the trapped and offer them first aid. In the future, the project can be advanced by allowing for larger systems capable of carrying heavier kits.”

“Our premise was that the system we were planning would be part of a swarm of drones, including one that would scan and photograph the area, a parent drone that would carry a large number of kits, and drones that would know how to receive kits from the parent glider, bring these to the person(s) trapped and then to release the kit. The system will be controlled by an operator from his control room, who will receive information about the trapped, put together a suitable kit, bring it to the disaster stricken area, and release it as close as possible to the trapped.”

May recounts sleepless nights: “The system worked fine up until a few days before the project was to be presented. As we were putting the parts together, we discovered that we had made some measurement errors prior to the printing of the parts, which meant the components didn’t work properly together.”

“We also had to make several design changes and print the model three times before we achieved the desired result. We learnt that when you print the prototype, you need to consider the system in its entirety, which is hard to do before all the components arrive. It is a time-consuming process which requires a lot of planning in advance.”

“We hope that our invention will help streamline the process of rescuing people who are trapped. For instance, by taking measures and signaling back to the control room the severity of the physical condition of victims, so the rescue can be prioritized accordingly. There are many more potential usages, not necessarily related to rescue, such as grocery delivery from the supermarket.”

Extending their robotic arm. Ariel Drizin and May Davidovich.

Saving the Black Box

Did you know that every plane crash is investigated in depth to determine the cause of the crash? Yaniv Alon, Dor Cohen and Ido Rosenzweig designed a system to be ejected from a plane in the event of a crash, and which transmits location details and additional data, significantly reducing the radius of the search for a plane when contact has been lost.

“The system includes a smart box with electronics and internal controllers. When it recognizes that the plane is about to crash, it is ejected from the plane at high speed with the help of mechanisms that we developed. It then falls to the ground with a parachute and can weather any condition, on land or sea.”, explains Yaniv. He clarifies that the system is not meant to replace the black box, but rather it is meant to offer a better alternative to the aircraft transmission systems that exist today, which tend not to be resilient or ejected, and usually vary according to the aircraft systems.

They started working on the project already last year. After a thorough examination of the system’s weaknesses and failures they undertook significant adjustments and enhancements before presenting the product this year. “We encountered quite a few complications along the way, when deciding how to operate the mechanism, examining various alternatives, finding suitable components, communication with suppliers, delivery delays and manufacturing glitches, requiring us to do ping-pong between the workshop and the production. However, thanks to our combined creativity, determination, efforts and our dedicated project manager Danny Barko, we were able to create a functioning product.”, he says.

When asked how they think their invention will contribute to change our lives, Yaniv replies, “The two main problems those who investigate plane crashes are faced with today, are that the black boxes are not ejected and that they are not resilient, which means that they mostly disappear along with the the aircraft. Unproductive field searches can reach sums of around $155 million. A system is required that will allow for swift and effective investigations and save us a lot of resources and money. Our solution meets these requirements and might even end up saving lives by helping locating crashed planes and their black boxes, advancing the investigation of the failures that led to the planes’ crash and preventing similar future cases.”

Will they help find the black box? Ido Rosenzweig, Dor Cohen and Yaniv Alon

A world first: Targeted delivery of therapeutic RNAs only to cancer cells, with no harm caused to healthy cells

Written by AUFTAU on 1 July 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

Tel Aviv University’s Groundbreaking Technology:

The “door-to-door service” that delivers therapeutic RNA payloads directly to cancer cells and other diseased cells

The groundbreaking technology may revolutionize the treatment of cancer and a wide range of diseases and medical conditions.
Researcher Prof. Peer: “Our development actually changes the world of therapeutic antibodies. Today we flood the body with antibodies that, although selective, also damage healthy cells. We have now removed the uninfected cells from the equation, and, via a simple injection, succeeded in targeting only the cells that are inflamed at that given moment.”
The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

Tel Aviv University’s groundbreaking technology may revolutionize the treatment of cancer and a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. In the framework of this study, the researchers were able to create a new method of transporting RNA-based drugs to a subpopulation of immune cells involved in the inflammation process, and target the disease-inflamed cell without causing damage to other cells.

The study was led by Prof. Dan Peer, a global pioneer in the development of RNA-based therapeutic delivery. He is Tel Aviv University’s Vice President for Research and Development, head of the Center for Translational Medicine and a member of both the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

Prof. Peer: “Our development actually changes the world of therapeutic antibodies. Today we flood the body with antibodies that, although selective, damage all the cells that express a specific receptor, regardless of their current form. We have now taken out of the equation healthy cells that can help us, that is, uninflamed cells, and via a simple injection into the bloodstream can silence, express or edit a particular gene exclusively in the cells that are inflamed at that given moment.”

As part of the study, Prof. Peer and his team were able to demonstrate this groundbreaking development in animal models of inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and colitis, and improve all inflammatory symptoms, without performing any manipulation on about 85% of the immune system cells. Behind the innovative development stands a simple concept, targeting to a specific receptor conformation.

“On every cell envelope in the body, that is, on the cell membrane, there are receptors that select which substances enter the cell,” explains Prof. Peer. “If we want to inject a drug, we have to adapt it to the specific receptors on the target cells, otherwise it will circulate in the bloodstream and do nothing. But some of these receptors are dynamic – they change shape on the membrane according to external or internal signals. We are the first in the world to succeed in creating a drug delivery system that knows how to bind to receptors only in a certain situation, and to skip over the other identical cells, that is, to deliver the drug exclusively to cells that are currently relevant to the disease.”

Previously, Prof. Peer and his team developed delivery systems based on fatty nanoparticles – the most advanced system of its kind; this system has already received clinical approval for the delivery of RNA-based drugs to cells. Now, they are trying to make the delivery system even more selective.

According to Prof. Peer, the new breakthrough has possible implications for a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. “Our development has implications for many types of blood cancers and various types of solid cancers, different inflammatory diseases, and viral diseases such as the coronavirus. We now know how to wrap RNA in fat-based particles so that it binds to specific receptors on target cells,” he says. “But the target cells are constantly changing. They switch from ‘binding’ to ‘non-binding’ mode in accordance with the circumstances. If we get a cut, for example, not all of our immune system cells go into a ‘binding’ state, because we do not need them all in order to treat a small incision. That is why we have developed a unified protein that knows how to bind only to the active state of the receptors of the immune system cells. We tested the protein we developed in animal models of inflammatory bowel disease, both acute and chronic.”

Prof. Peer adds, “We were able to organize the delivery system in such a way that we target to only 14.9% of the cells that were involved in the inflammatory condition of the disease, without adversely affecting the other, non-involved, cells, which are actually completely healthy cells. Through specific binding to the cell sub-population, while delivering the RNA payload we were able to improve all indices of inflammation, from the animal’s weight to pro-inflammatory cytokines. We compared our results with those of antibodies that are currently on the market for Crohn’s and colitis patients, and found that our results were the same or better, without causing most of the side effects that accompany the introduction of antibodies into the entire cell population. In other words, we were able to deliver the drug ‘door-to-door,’ directly to the diseased cells.”

The study was led by Prof. Peer, together with Dr. Niels Dammes, a postdoctoral fellow from the Netherlands, with the collaboration of Dr. Srinivas Ramishetti, Dr. Meir Goldsmith and Dr. Nuphar Veiga, from Prof. Dan Peer’s lab. Professors Jason Darling and Alan Packard of Harvard University in the United States also participated. The study was funded by the European Union, in the framework of the European Research Council (ERC).

New Type of Prehistoric Human Discovered in Israel

Written by AUFTAU on 28 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

A new discovery by Tel Aviv University researchers may change the story of human evolution. The bones of an early human, unknown to science, were found at an excavation site near the city of Ramla. Researchers believe the remains represent one of the “last survivors” of an ancient human group that lived here at the Levant alongside Homo sapiens (modern humans) between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago.

Two teams of researchers took part in the dramatic discovery, published in the prestigious Science journal: an anthropology team from Tel Aviv University headed by Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Dr. Hila May and Dr. Rachel Sarig from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research and the Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute, situated in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University; and an archaeological team headed by Dr. Yossi Zaidner from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Until today, most researchers believed the small groups of Neanderthals arrived in the Levant from Europe about 70,000 years ago. The discovery of a new human group in this region, which resembles Pre-Neanderthal populations in Europe, challenges the prevailing hypothesis that Neanderthals originated from Europe, suggesting that at least some of the Neanderthals’ ancestors actually came from the Levant. In other words, TAU researchers are now suggesting instead that the famous Neanderthals of Western Europe are only the remnants of a much larger population that lived here in the Levant – and not the other way around.

Timeline: The Nesher Ramla Homo type was an ancestor of both the Neanderthals in Europe and the archaic Homo populations of Asia.

Another Piece to the Puzzle of Human Evolution

Prof. Israel Hershkovitz explains that the discovery of this new type of prehistoric human is of great scientific importance: “It enables us to make new sense of previously found human fossils, add another piece to the puzzle of human evolution, and understand the migrations of humans in the old world. Even though they lived so long ago, in the late middle Pleistocene (474,000-130,000 years ago), the Nesher Ramla people can tell us a fascinating tale, revealing a great deal about their descendants’ evolution and way of life.”

The important human fossil was found by Dr. Zaidner of the Hebrew University during salvage excavations at the Nesher Ramla prehistoric site, in the mining area of the Nesher cement plant (owned by Len Blavatnik) near the city of Ramla. Digging down about 8 meters, the excavators found large quantities of animal bones, including horses, fallow deer and aurochs, as well as stone tools and human bones. An international team led by the researchers from TAU and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem identified the morphology of the bones as belonging to a new type of earlier species, previously unknown to science. This is the first type of prehistoric human species to be defined in Israel, and according to common practice, it was named after the site where it was discovered – the Nesher Ramla Homo type.

WATCH: Researchers from TAU have identified a new type of early human at the Nesher Ramla site, dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago:

Neanderthals Made in the Middle East

“This is an extraordinary discovery,” notes Dr. Yossi Zaidner. “We had never imagined that alongside Homo sapiens, archaic Homo roamed the area so late in human history. The archaeological finds associated with human fossils show that Nesher Ramla Homo possessed advanced stone-tool production technologies and most likely interacted with the local Homo sapiens“. The culture, way of life, and behavior of the Nesher Ramla Homo are discussed in a companion paper also published in Science journal.

Furthermore, Prof. Hershkovitz explains that “Before these new findings, most researchers believed the Neanderthals to be a ‘European story’, in which small groups of Neanderthals were forced to migrate southwards to escape the spreading glaciers, with some arriving in the Land of Israel about 70,000 years ago. The Nesher Ramla fossils make us question this theory, suggesting that the ancestors of European Neanderthals lived in the Levant as early as 400,000 years ago, repeatedly migrating westward to Europe and eastward to Asia. In fact, our findings imply that the famous Neanderthals of Western Europe are only the remnants of a much larger population that lived here in the Levant – and not the other way around.”

Neanderthals and Sapiens Sharing Bed

Despite the absence of DNA in these fossils, the findings from Nesher Ramla offer a solution to a great mystery in the evolution of Homo: How did genes of Homo sapiens penetrate the Neanderthal population that presumably lived in Europe long before the arrival of Homo sapiens? Geneticists who studied the DNA of European Neanderthals have previously suggested the existence of a Neanderthal-like population which they called the ‘missing population’ or the ‘X population’ that had mated with Homo sapiens more than 200,000 years ago. In the anthropological paper now published in Science, the researchers suggest that the Nesher Ramla Homo type might represent this population, heretofore missing from the record of human fossils. Moreover, the researchers propose that the humans from Nesher Ramla are not the only ones of their kind discovered in the region, and that some human fossils found previously in Israel, which have baffled anthropologists for years – like the fossils from the Tabun cave (160,000 years ago), Zuttiyeh cave (250,000), and Qesem cave (400,000) – belong to the same new human group now called the Nesher Ramla Homo type.

“People think in paradigms,” says Dr. Rachel Sarig. “That’s why efforts have been made to ascribe these fossils to known human groups like Homo sapiens, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis or the Neanderthals. But now we say: No. This is a group in itself, with distinct features and characteristics. At a later stage small groups of the Nesher Ramla Homo type migrated to Europe – where they evolved into the ‘classic’ Neanderthals that we are familiar with, and also to Asia, where they became archaic populations with Neanderthal-like features. As a crossroads between Africa, Europe and Asia, the Land of Israel served as a melting pot where different human populations mixed with one another, to later spread throughout the Old World. The discovery from the Nesher Ramla site writes a new and fascinating chapter in the story of humankind.”

The Nesher Ramla research team (left to right): Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Marion Prevost, Dr. Hila May, Dr. Rachel Sarig and Dr. Yossi Zaidner.

Featured image: TAU’s Dr. Rachel Sarig, Dr. Hila May, and Prof. Israel Hershkovitz holding the Nesher Ramla fossils (photo: Tel Aviv University)

Care for A Glass of Tel Aviv Air?

Written by AUFTAU on 24 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

The best things in life are allegedly free, and a first-of-its-kind study in the world conducted at Tel Aviv University supports this belief. Researchers have found that nature’s very own champagne, generated from the air in the heart of an urban area, the city of Tel Aviv, complies with all of the strict drinking water standards set both by the State of Israel and by the World Health Organization. Have we finally found a solution to the global drinking water scarcity?

Like the Air that We Breathe

The constantly growing global shortage of clean drinking water requires thinking outside the box – and developing new technologies for producing potable water. The Earth’s atmosphere is a vast and renewable source of water, which may be an alternative drinking water resource. Our atmosphere contains billions of tons of water, 98% of which is in a gaseous state – that is, water vapor.

The study was conducted by a team of experts from the hydrochemistry laboratory at the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University, led by graduate student Offir Inbar and supervised by Prof. Dror Avisar, Head of TAU’s Moshe Mirilashvili Institute for Applied Water Studies. Also participating in the study was Watergen’s research and development team, Prof. Alexandra Chudnovsky, and leading researchers from Germany. The study’s results were published in two leading journals: Science of the Total Environment and Water.

Wind Flavored Water

Offir Inbar explains that this is the first study in the world to examine air pollution through its effect on drinking water generated from the air. No filtration or treatment system was installed in the device used in the study; the water that was produced was the water that was obtained from the air. The researchers performed a wide range of advanced chemical analyses of the water, and found that in the vast majority of cases, including during different seasons and at different times of the day, the water extracted from the air in the heart of Tel Aviv was safe to drink. In addition, with the help of a variety of innovative technologies for monitoring the composition of the atmosphere and by applying advanced statistical methods, for the first time the researchers were able to quantitatively link the process the air goes through in the days leading up to the point of water production and the chemical composition of the dew.

Tel Aviv – a source of clean drinking water?

Offir Inbar explains: “The study showed that wind direction greatly affects water quality. When the wind comes from the desert, we find more calcium and sulfur – residues of desert dust aerosols – in the water. When the wind comes from the direction of the sea, we find higher concentrations of chlorine and sodium. We also found that the distant sources of the air, prior to when it reached the point of water production, can be identified in the water. Thus, water produced from air coming from the Sahara region differs in composition from water produced from air coming from Europe.”

Water quality is also affected by anthropogenic pollution from transportation and industry. “Using advanced methods, we found a direct link between the concentrations of ammonia, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide in the air and the concentration of their decomposition products in water,” says Inbar. “We found low concentrations of copper, potassium, and zinc in the water, which probably come from manmade pollution.

Minerals Should be Added

The chemical link we found between the meteorological parameters and the composition of the water makes it possible for the first time to study the atmosphere using water extracted from it. This link allows us to know what minerals should be added to water extracted from air in order to provide people with quality drinking water. In general, we found that potable water from air does not contain enough calcium and magnesium – and it is advisable to add these minerals to the water, just like they are added to desalinated drinking water in some countries.”

A significant portion of the water we drink in Israel today is desalinated seawater – a solution which Inbar says is only a partial solution, and not one that can provide drinking water to the vast majority of the world’s population. “In order to desalinate seawater, you need a sea. The sea, however, is not accessible from every place in the world,” says Inbar. “After desalination, a complete infrastructure must be built to carry the desalinated water from the waterfront to the various towns, and large parts of the world don’t possess the engineering and economic means for that. Water from the air can be produced anywhere, with no need for expensive transport infrastructure and regardless of the amount of precipitation. From an economic perspective, the higher the temperature and humidity, the more cost-effective the production of water from the air is.”

Devices for generating water from the air that include water purification and treatment systems are already in use in a lot of countries, and provide quality drinking water to people living in distressed areas. “The concern in this case was that water produced from air in the heart of an urban area would not be suitable for drinking. We have proved that this is not the case,” Inbar concludes. “We are currently expanding our research to other areas in Israel, including the Haifa Bay and agricultural areas, in order to investigate in depth, the impact of various pollutants on the quality of water extracted from the air.”

Featured image:Offir Inbar enjoys a glass of Tel Aviv atmosphere derived water in the lab

Combating Antibiotic Resistance

Written by AUFTAU on 23 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

A new TAU study revealed a mechanism through which “good” viruses can attack the systems of “bad” bacteria, destroy them and block their reproduction.

“Good” Viruses Kill “Bad” Bacteria

The researchers demonstrated that the “good” virus (bacteriophage) is able to block the replication mechanism of the bacteria’s DNA without damaging its own, noting that the ability to distinguish between oneself and others is crucial in nature. The discovery reveals one more fascinating aspect of the mutual relations between bacteria and bacteriophages and may lead to a better understanding of bacterial mechanisms for evading bacteriophages, as well as ways for using bacteriophages to combat bacteria. The study, published recently in PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Prof. Udi Qimron, Dr. Dor Salomon, Dr. Tridib Mahata and Shahar Molshanski-Mor of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Other participants included Prof. Tal Pupko, Head of The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research and also of TAU’s new AI and Data Science Center; Dr. Oren Avram of The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences; and Dr. Ido Yosef, Dr. Moran Goren, Dr. Miriam Kohen-Manor and Dr. Biswanath Jana of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

A Great Scientific Challenge

Prof. Qimron explains that the antibiotic resistance of bacteria is one of the greatest challenges faced by scientists today. One potential solution may lie in further investigation of the targeted eradication of bacteria by “good” bacteriophages; namely, understanding bacteriophage mechanisms for taking over bacteria as a basis for the development of new tools to combat bacterial pathogens. With this solution in mind, the current study unveiled the mechanism by which the bacteriophage takes control of the bacteria. The researchers found that a bacteriophage protein uses a DNA-repair protein in the bacteria to “cunningly” cut the bacteria’s DNA as it is being repaired. Since the bacteriophage’s own DNA has no need for this specific repair protein, it is protected from this nicking procedure. In this way the “good” bacteriophage does three important things: it distinguishes between its own DNA and that of the bacteria, destroys the bacteria’s genetic material, and blocks the bacteria’s propagation and cell division.

The process by which the bacteriophage destroys the bacteria’s genetic material Prof. Qimron explains that, “The ability to distinguish between oneself and others is of enormous importance in nature and in various biological applications. All antibiotic mechanisms identify and neutralize bacteria only, with minimal effect on human cells.” The researchers discovered the process by searching for types of bacterial variants not impacted by this bacteriophage mechanism – those that have developed “immunity” to it. This inquiry led them to the specific bacterial mechanisms affected by the bacteriophage takeover. “Shedding more light on the ways in which bacteriophages attack bacteria, our findings may serve as a tool in the endless battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” concludes Prof. Qimron. Featured image: Illustrative: Bacteriophage or phage virus attacking and infecting a bacterium

Leading the Global Yiddish Renaissance

Written by AUFTAU on 22 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

TAU’s Jona Goldrich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture boasts vibrant, diverse curriculum and student body.

What do scholars, teachers, translators and aficionados of Yiddish have in common? They all flock to TAU’s influential Jona Goldrich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture, which promotes academic depth and creativity in the field of Yiddish studies.

Founded in 2005 as the Goldreich Family Institute by TAU benefactor Jona Goldrich (1927-2016), today the Institute is supported by his two daughters, TAU Governor Melinda Goldrich and Andrea Goldrich, who chose to rename the Institute in honor of their late father and his leadership. The Institute’s summer program, supported by the Naomi Prawer Kadar Foundation since 2011, has hosted 995 participants from 33 countries. The Goldrich Family Foundation Advanced Yiddish Studies Forum brings top scholars to TAU from around the world.

“For me, the Institute is not only a place of advanced research, but a forum where my ideas can be put into practice,” says Mika Cohen, a first-year student in the Yiddish Studies MA Program, jointly supported by Yad Hanadiv. A creative writing workshop she’s running explores the theme of the shtetl as a way to think about modern notions of community. Participants read works by Sholem Aleichem and other legendary writers, and then produce their own vision of community with their 21st century literary voices.

Institute Director Dr. Hannah Pollin-Galay of TAU’s Department of Literature, Entin Faculty of Humanities, enthuses, “Students are eager to ask new questions about Jewish culture and to understand the experiences of their grandparents and great-grandparents.” Her own research combines Yiddish and Holocaust Studies, while the work of Prof. Hana Wirth-Nesher, the Institute’s Founding Director, focuses on multilingualism in Jewish and mainstream American writing. Other research conducted at the Institute explores the interplay between Yiddish and other languages and cultures in Europe, Israel and beyond.

“The Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever asked, in reference to Yiddish culture after the Holocaust, Ver vet blaybn? Vos vet blaybn? (‘Who will remain? What will remain?’),” says Dr. Pollin-Galay. “I think Sutzkever would be very proud to see my young students working hard to answer his question in a positive way. It is thanks to them, and to the support of the Goldrich family, that a beautiful Yiddish legacy will not only remain, but blossom and grow in the future.”

Featured image: Credit: Chen Galili

Celebrating 20 Years of Gender Studies

Written by AUFTAU on 17 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

Tel Aviv University this week alongside the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) are marking 20 years of partnership and the co-founding of the first-ever gender studies program in the Middle East. Established in 2001, the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at The Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, at the Entin Faculty of Humanities was the first – and remains the only – B.A. degree program on gender studies in Israel. The Program has since expanded to offer M.A. and Ph.D. tracks. To date, it boasts approximately 600 alumni.

Changing Society, Changing Lives

In light of its two-decade anniversary, the Program’s head Prof. Daphna Hacker, from the Buchmann Faculty of Law, explains: “It’s a degree but it’s not only about intellectual theories, it’s about our own lives – our private most intimate relations, our political choices, our engagement in social activism. Once you’re exposed to feminist theories and gender studies, most likely your perspective will change not only on society, but on your own life.” Addressing the 20-year milestone, TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat lauded the Program and its founders, thanking NCJW for the endowment that made the Program possible. Additionally, he hailed the Program for its role in producing agents for social change, including graduates who have become educators, journalists, scholars, entrepreneurs and social activists. “We can see the important impact of the Program not just on its graduates and teachers, but also on the wider Tel Aviv University community,” he said in recorded remarks. “We’re seeing more women professors in the top management, as vice presidents, deans and heads of schools – and also a greater representation of women scientists and students in STEM fields.” Prof. Hacker sees the Program’s classrooms as microcosms of the type of pluralistic setting needed to further swing the pendulum toward gender equity in Israel. “Gender studies teach us how to open our eyes to reality,” she says. “Feminism, since it was established, has been about the connection between academic knowledge and activism for social change.”

A conference hosted by the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program (Photo: Tanya Gurov) The Program’s influence is evident in its impact on the lives of its students. For instance, it has provided Ph.D. researcher and lecturer Estee Rieder-Indursky an inroad to academia she wouldn’t have thought possible 20 years ago. As a Haredi social activist, Rider-Indursky is making strides giving voice to women previously unheard from in academic research. In 2020, she won the Dan David Prize for Doctoral Students for her research on discourses of Haredi women who study the Talmud. Going forward, Hacker’s hopes to broaden awareness of the gender studies Program to draw new students and future social leaders. This includes adding to its ranks more men, LGBTQ students, students with disabilities, ultra-Orthodox women, and Arab Israeli students. “Everyone should be included in the conversation and the research. Since we are shaping our research through our experiences and personal backgrounds, it’s crucial we have diversity among our students and faculty,” Hacker stresses.

Extending Academic Knowledge Beyond Campus

In addition to the gender studies Program at TAU, the partnership between the University and NCJW has borne additional projects. Now hosting its 2^nd cohort, “Connecting for Impact: Strengthening the Feminist Ecosystem in Israel” is one of the partnership’s most recent achievements extending academic knowledge beyond the walls of traditional university campus settings. Hacker hails the University’s partnership with NCJW – the oldest Jewish women’s volunteer organization in the U.S. – as a fruitful collaboration that facilitates valuable knowledge sharing between scholars, lobbyists, activist and community leaders from both the U.S. and Israel. An online event Thursday (June 17) celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at TAU will feature a panel of leaders exploring the state of gender equity in Israel. Along with NCJW President Dana Gershon and Prof. Hacker, guest speakers include Israeli Cabinet Minister Merav Michaeli, Director of Arab Community program at Yad Hanadiv Foundation Dr. Safa Abu-Rabia, and Ridur-Indursky. Former NCJW president, Florida State Senator Nan Rich, will moderate the event. To register for the panel, please visit here. Featured image: NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at TAU (Photo: Jonathan Mizrahi)

TAU Alumni Fill Ranks in Israel’s New Government

Written by AUFTAU on 16 June 2021. Posted in Alumni News, Newsroom.

Upon the swearing in of Israel’s new Unity Government, the country’s 36^th government, on Sunday night, Tel Aviv University would like to extend special congratulations to all the TAU alumni who are now serving as cabinet ministers. The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) approved the new coalition government in the wake of four inconclusive elections over the past two years.

Most Diverse in Israeli History

The new government is noted as the most diverse in Israeli history as it comprises representation from across the political spectrum from left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties. For the first time in decades, the country’s ruling faction includes an Arab party. It also has the highest representation of women cabinet ministers (9 out of 28) in Israeli history. Reflecting Israel’s diverse societal makeup, the new government is comprised of lawmakers from a vast range of social, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including Jews (observant and secular, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi), Druze, Muslims, native Israelis along with immigrants from Russia, Ethiopia and more. Tel Aviv University alumni assuming ministerial posts include:

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, alumna of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences

Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern, alumnus of the Coller School of Management

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, alumnus of The Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies, Entin Faculty of Humanities

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, alumnus of The Buchmann Faculty of Law and the Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel, alumnus of The Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies & Archeology, Entin Faculty of Humanities

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, alumnus of the Buchmann Faculty of Law

Agriculture Minister/Minister for Periphery, Negev and Galilee Development Oded Forer, alumnus of The School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Internal Security Minister Col. Omer Barlev, alumnus of the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, alumna of the Department of Public Policy, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, alumna of the Buchmann Faculty of Law

Furthermore, TAU alumnus of the Buchmann Faculty of Law, Idan Roll, has filled the position of Deputy Foreign Minister. In addition, due to the resignation as Knesset members of nine new ministers, six more TAU alumni have joined the Knesset, including two TAU professors – U.S.-born Prof. Alon Tal (chair of the Department of Public Policy) and Prof. Yossi Shain (School of Political Science). In total, 22 TAU alumni now serve as members in the current 24th Knesset. featured image: Israel’s 36th government

Exploring New Frontiers in AI

Written by AUFTAU on 14 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

With the global artificial intelligence market skyrocketing, TAU’s new Center for AI and Data Science leads the way in Israel—and beyond.

The endless possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) have ignited human imagination for decades. From Star Wars and Blade Runner to the recent Superintelligence, people have imagined a world powered by AI. And although those realities are still in the realm of the future, AI and machine learning are quickly becoming the next frontiers for academic institutions such as Tel Aviv University as well as businesses and governments. With the global AI market expected to grow to $800 billion annually in the coming years, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked two Tel Aviv University professors with leading the National Initiative for Secured Intelligent Systems. They are Major Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, Head of the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), and Prof. Eviatar Matania, Head of TAU’s Security Studies program. The pair’s resulting report recommends making AI a top national priority and is a blueprint for positioning Israel as a top five global AI superpower in the coming decade. TAU has already taken a leadership role in advancing AI in Israel with its annual AI Week Conference. At the February 2021 conference, which took place virtually, TAU’s Prof. Meir Feder announced the launch of a new interdisciplinary Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, which he heads. “By deepening and disseminating AI expertise, the new Center will boost Israel’s flourishing high-tech and biotech industries and impact all aspects of life. It will create new opportunities in many fields including personalized medicine, drug design, social sciences, neuroscience, materials science and digital humanities,” says Feder. “In addition, the Center will enable all TAU students, no matter what they study, to gain a basic education in AI and Data Science. We will do this by building a curriculum that exposes them to AI concepts, to be implemented in the upcoming academic year.” AI, which revolves around the quest to build machines that can execute human-like tasks and behavior and beyond, has been a “holy grail” for scientists for many years, says Prof. Amir Globerson of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science and a member of the AI Center’s academic management team. “Almost every aspect of our daily lives can and will be changed by these emerging technologies” says Globerson. “These include the way we clean our homes, receive health care or drive a car to the way we predict natural disasters.” To use AI technologies in real-world solutions, AI research must be an interdisciplinary effort, he explains. This means combining core disciplines of engineering, statistics and computer science with complementary fields such as law, medicine, psychology, economics and humanities. “It is essential for us to build up the capabilities of the Center to help researchers fulfill the potential of AI in all of these fields,” he says.

Prof. Amir Globerson (Photo: Moshe Bedarshi)

TAU: Multidisciplinary AI Powerhouse

With its influential group of researchers in core AI, TAU is already considered a world leader in the field, with strong performances in terms of prestigious grants, publications in top journals and industry ties. Collaborative AI projects in the TAU pipeline include developing automated tools for analyzing crop growth to help farmers in Africa improve yield; processing vast amounts of data to understand genome patterns and sources of diseases; and studying communication between caregivers and infants to recognize patterns that can facilitate better language development. TAU also has a relationship with Russia’s largest technology company, Yandex, which founded the Yandex Initiative for Machine Learning to strengthen AI and machine learning among TAU students and faculty, Globerson notes. He adds that the University views educating the next generation of researchers and technologists in this field as a priority. Recently, the “AI for Social Good” initiative, funded by Google at TAU’s AI Center, announced grants for 10 new interdisciplinary projects. The winning projects include: an early warning system for invasive fish species from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean Sea; a technical solution for ensuring fair use of copyrights online; and an image recognition system to allow Dead Sea Scroll scholars to compare old photographic images with new high-resolution spectral images of ancient scroll fragments.

Dead Sea scrolls (Photo: Shai Halevi)

AI and the War against COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Irad Ben-Gal, head of TAU’s AI, Machine Learning, and Business & Data Analytics lab, collaborated with Dr. Dan Yamin, both of The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, to correlate human mobility with outbreak patterns. They used AI mapping technology to determine ideal implementation of movement restrictions. For example, they designed a system to optimize the lockdown structure in a smart city according to the movement of people, instead of shutting down an entire metropolis such as Tel Aviv. Moreover, by using data collected from groups of 50 people—either through car sensors or mobile-phone tracking—rather than individuals, they protected people’s privacy. Though the system was never fully implemented, both the Prime Minister’s Office and the Health Ministry used the data compiled by the TAU researchers to gauge reactions to those lockdowns, says Ben-Gal, who co-heads the Koret Program for Smart Cities and Digital Living in collaboration with Stanford University and serves as a Board Member of TAU’s Shmeltzer Institute of Smart Transportation. Modeling human mobility patterns can optimize a city’s allocation of smart utilities such as electricity, lighting systems and transportation routes, Ben-Gal explains. “In Israel, this modeling has been used for placement of mobile missile shelters, using data collected during missile attacks in the South to indicate where people were concentrated.”

A Game-Changer for Biomedicine

As head of the Functional Genomics Laboratory at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Noam Shomron also uses AI and machine learning to better lives. He does this by exploring new aspects of genomics through DNA and RNA research. In one study, his lab followed thousands of pregnant women from their 10-week blood tests through to the end of their pregnancy, when a small percentage of women suffer from the life-threatening condition of preeclampsia. Though physicians can sometimes predict the possibility of preeclampsia based on high blood pressure or stress, Shomron’s lab reduced 20 million possible RNA molecular markers for preeclampsia to only 25. He accomplished this by using AI and data methods to analyze RNA snippets in blood samples both of women who suffered from preeclampsia and those who didn’t. “Using this data, you can predict to a certain probability at the beginning of a pregnancy if a woman will suffer from preeclampsia later on. With this knowledge, you can prescribe early preventive treatment, which is a low dosage of aspirin—a simple remedy that can save lives,” says Shomron. Using the same blood samples, his lab computationally separated the embryonic DNA from the mother’s DNA. Applying AI-based algorithms, the team was then able to decipher the entire DNA of an embryo using just a blood sample from a woman at week 10 of her pregnancy. This testing method could be an effective alternative to amniocentesis, an invasive prenatal testing method which uses a needle to remove fluid from the uterus, and other similar tests. Cooperation with physicians from among TAU’s 17 affiliated hospitals has been vital to his team’s research, Shomron says. “We work closely with clinical teams who will eventually use the data and need to trust it,” he says. “Algorithms won’t replace clinical teams, but they will assist them in their decision-making.”

Advances for the Justice System

In addition to revolutionizing health care, education and transportation, AI technology is also transforming the legal world, says TAU’s Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren of The Buchmann Faculty of Law. For more than two decades, Elkin-Koren has been studying the implications of digital technology and AI on the legal sphere. Lawyers already use machine learning systems to predict damages and analyze what lower courts say about an issue, says Elkin-Koren, who is a member of the academic management team of the AI Center. Some judges in the US have begun to use AI risk-assessment systems to support their decision-making process when determining whether to release criminal offenders or impose criminal sanctions. “I am excited about these new opportunities, but also uneasy because in the absence of sufficient safeguards, they could lead to infringements on democracy and civil rights,” she says. “Lawyers are accustomed to thinking in terms of legal concepts, rules, rights and procedures. We have to start thinking of new procedures and legal protections that are more appropriate for this time and age.” For instance, she says, as police begin to depend more on predictive policing to justify a search —wherein they use computational algorithms based on compiled data to predict whether a person is about to commit a crime—tools must be developed to safeguard civil rights. This requires close collaboration among the lawyers, social scientists, and AI specialists developing these systems; together, they must ensure that the AI systems meet ethical standards and promote societal good, Elkin-Koren explains. A major challenge, she continues, is to assure AI systems are inclusive of minorities and marginalized populations. Learning models are typically based on historical data, which may lead to unintended biases. Her research involves redesigning systems in law and AI to include checks and balances starting from the creation stage, as a means of protecting citizens’ civil rights. Other issues the law must tackle with AI technology, according to Elkin-Koren, are ownership of AI output, regulation of copyrighted material, liability for harm caused by autonomous cars in accidents, and moderation of online speech. Finding the answers to these questions involves revising existing legal doctrines, but also responding to new theoretical challenges about legal agency and collective action.

Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren (Photo: Moshe Bedarshi) Shomron says the same is true in his field of medicine; as society evolves, he says, TAU researchers must continue to study and find ways to respond to emerging challenges. “Our world is changing all the time so we’re always looking at the next frontier,” he says. “That is what we do in academia: We try to invent the future.” By Judith Sudilovsky Featured image: Prof. Noam Shomron (right) discusses test results with MDPhD candidate Yazeed Zoabi (left) and doctoral candidate Meitar Grad in his medical genomics lab. (Photo: Yoram Reshef)

Author: AUFTAU

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