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Our Ancestors Irreparably Damaged the Timna Valley Environment 3000 Years Ago

Written by AUFTAU on 28 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom. No Comments on Our Ancestors Irreparably Damaged the Timna Valley Environment 3000 Years Ago

Humans destroying ecosystems apparently dates as far back as to biblical times: Researchers from Tel Aviv University collected samples of charcoal used as fuel for metallurgical furnaces in the Timna Valley, located in Israel’s southern desert region, during the 11th-9th centuries BCE and examined them under a microscope. They found that the charcoal fuels used changed over time. The earlier samples contained mainly local white broom and acacia thorn trees, excellent fuel available nearby, but the quality of the firewood had deteriorated over time, with later samples consisting of low-quality wood fuel and timber imported from afar. The researchers: “Our findings indicate that the ancient copper industry at Timna was not managed in a sustainable manner, with overexploitation of local vegetation eventually leading to the disappearance of both the plants and the industry. Copper production was not renewed in this region until about a thousand years later, and the local environment has not recovered fully to this day.”

“We can only assume that [King] David took an interest in this remote desert region because of its copper – an important and valuable metal at the time, used for making bronze among other purposes.”

Why Burn so Many Trees?

The study was conducted by PhD student Mark Cavanagh, Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef, and Dr. Dafna Langgut, head of the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Ancient Environments, all from TAU’s Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, and Dr. Langgut is also affiliated with the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. The study was published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports from the Nature portfolio. “Many findings in the Timna Valley indicate that a vast copper industry flourished here for a period of about 250 years, between the 11th and 9th centuries BCE, with thousands of mining sites, and about 10 processing sites that used furnaces to extricate copper from the ore,” says Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef, director of the archaeological excavations in the Timna Valley. “This impressive operation is known to the public as ‘King Solomon’s Mines’, and today we know that copper production peaked here at about the time of Kings David and Solomon.” “The Bible never mentions the mines as such, but it does tell us that David conquered the area of Timna, known at the time as Edom, placing garrisons throughout the land, so that the Edomites became his subjects; and that his son Solomon used huge quantities of copper for building the Temple in Jerusalem. We can only assume that David took an interest in this remote desert region because of its copper – an important and valuable metal at the time, used for making bronze among other purposes. The Timna copper industry was run by the local Edomites, who specialized in this profession, and copper from Timna was exported to distant lands, including Egypt, Lebanon, and even Greece. This study shows, however, that the industry was not sustainable, a fact that may fit in well with occupation by a foreign power, perhaps ruled from Jerusalem.”

Investigating a pile of industrial waste mixed with charcoal on Slaves’ Hill, Timna Valley (photo: Erez Ben-Yosef and the Central Timna Valley Project) The researchers explain that Timna’s copper industry was highly advanced for its time, and that the metalsmiths who processed the copper were skilled and well-respected individuals. The copper was extracted from the ore via smelting in earthenware furnaces at a temperature of 1,200 degrees Celsius. The entire process took about eight hours, after which the furnace was smashed, and the copper retrieved from its base. The wood charcoal required to attain the high temperature was manufactured beforehand at special sites, by slow combustion of trees and bushes cut down for this purpose.

Where did the Firewood Come From?

Ever since the copper industry at Timna was first discovered, about 200 years ago, researchers have repeatedly asked what fuel was used to heat the smelting furnaces. Since vegetation is very sparse in this desert area, where did the firewood come from? “In order to finally solve this mystery, we collected samples of charcoal from the smelting sites and examined them in the lab,” says Mark Cavanagh. The charcoal samples, well-preserved thanks to the dry desert climate, were taken from mounds of industrial waste at two large production sites in the Timna Valley and brought to the archaeobotanical laboratory at TAU. “At the lab we examine plant remains discovered at archeological excavations,” explains Dr. Dafna Langgut. “In the present study we examined more than 1,000 charcoal samples under an electronic microscope. The anatomic structure of the original wood is preserved in the charcoal, and under the microscope the species can be identified. The samples were dated according to the layer of the waste mound in which they had been found, and some were also sent out for carbon-14 dating.”

“The production site called the ‘Slaves’ Hill’ (…) burned as many as 400 acacias and 1,800 brooms every year. As these resources dwindled, the industry looked for other solutions, as evidenced by the changing composition of the charcoal.”

Excavating Slaves’ Hill (photo: Hai Ashkenazi, courtesy of the Central Timna Valley Project) Mark Cavanagh describes the findings: “We found significant changes in the composition of the charcoal as time went on. Charcoal from the bottom layer of the mounds, dated to the 11th century BCE, mostly contained two plants known to be excellent burning materials: 40% acacia thorn trees, and 40% local white broom, including broom roots. The ‘burning coals of the broom tree’ are even mentioned in the Bible as excellent firewood (Psalm 120, 4). About 100 years later, around the middle of the 10th century BCE, we saw a change in the makeup of the charcoal. The industry had begun to use fuel of a lower quality, such as various desert bushes and palm trees. In this latter stage, other trees were imported from far away, such as junipers from the Edomite plateau in present-day Jordan, covering distances of up to 100 km from Timna, and terebinth, also transported from dozens of kilometers away.”

Lasting Damage

The researchers claim that the gradual change in the contents of the charcoal resulted from overexploitation that had destroyed the natural resources – in this case high-quality firewood, the acacia and white broom. Prof. Ben-Yosef: “Based on the amount of industrial waste found at the processing sites we can calculate the quantity of woody plants required for producing copper. For example, the production site called the ‘Slaves’ Hill’, which was only one of several sites operating simultaneously, burned as many as 400 acacias and 1,800 brooms every year. As these resources dwindled, the industry looked for other solutions, as evidenced by the changing composition of the charcoal. However, transporting woody plants from afar did not prove cost-effective for the long run, and eventually, during the 9th century BCE, all production sites were shut down. The copper industry in the Timna Valley was renewed only 1,000 later, by the Nabateans.” Dr. Langgut concludes: “Our study indicates that 3,000 years ago humans caused severe environmental damage in the Timna Valley, which affects the area to this day. The damage was caused through overexploitation, especially of the acacia and white broom, which, as key species in the ecosystem of the Southern Arava, had supported many other species, stored water, and stabilized the soil. Their disappearance generated a domino effect of environmental damage, irreparably harming the entire area. Three thousand years later, the local environment still hasn’t recovered from the crisis. Some species, like the white broom, once prevalent in the Timna Valley, are now very rare, and others have disappeared forever.”

Tel Aviv University’s Dr. Dafna Langgut and Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef

World’s Earliest Evidence of Opium Use

Written by AUFTAU on 28 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

A new study by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University and The Weizmann Institute of Science has revealed the earliest known evidence of the use of the hallucinogenic drug opium, and psychoactive drugs in general, in the world. The opium residue was found in ceramic vessels discovered at Tel Yehud in Israel, in an excavation conducted by Eriola Jakoel on behalf of the Antiquities Authority. The vessels that contained the opium date back to the 14th century BC, and were found in Canaanite graves, apparently having been used in local burial rituals. This exciting discovery confirms historical writings and archeological hypotheses according to which opium and its trade played a central role in the cultures of the Near East. The research was conducted as part of Vanessa Linares’s doctoral thesis, under the guidance of Prof. Oded Lipschits and Prof. Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archeology and Prof. Ronny Neumann of the Weizmann Institute, in collaboration with Eriola Jakoel and Dr. Ron Be’eri of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The study was published in the journal Archaeometry.

“Because the vessels are similar in shape to the poppy flower when it is closed and upside down, the hypothesis arose already in the 19th century that they were used as ritual vessels for the drug.”

Thoughtful Send-off

In 2012, the Antiquities Authority conducted a salvage excavation at the Tel Yehud site, prior to the construction of residences there. Several Canaanite graves from the Late Bronze Age were found in the excavation, and next to them burial offerings – vessels intended to accompany the dead into the afterlife. Among the pottery, a large group of vessels made in Cyprus and referred to in the study as “Base-Ring juglets,” stood out. Because the vessels are similar in shape to the poppy flower when it is closed and upside down, the hypothesis arose already in the 19th century that they were used as ritual vessels for the drug. Now, an organic residue analysis has revealed opium residue in eight vessels, some local and some made in Cyprus. This is the first time that opium has been found in pottery in general, and in Base-Ring vessels in particular. It is also the earliest known evidence of the use of hallucinogens in the world.

Vessels intended to accompany the dead into the afterlife. These Cypriot jugs and juglets were laid on the deceased. Remains of opium were found in several of the vessels (photo: Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority)

“It may be that during these ceremonies, conducted by family members or by a priest on their behalf, participants attempted to raise the spirits of their dead relatives in order to express a request, and would enter an ecstatic state by using opium.”

Raising Spirits

“In the excavations conducted at Tel Yehud to date, hundreds of Canaanite graves from the 18th to the 13th centuries BC have been unearthed,” shares Dr. Ron Be’eri of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “Most of the bodies buried were those of adults, of both sexes. The pottery vessels which had been placed within the graves were used for ceremonial meals, rites and rituals performed by the living for their deceased family members.” Beeri explains that the dead were honored with foods and drinks that were either placed in the vessels or consumed during a feast that took place over the grave, at which the deceased was, in fact, considered a participant. It may be that during these ceremonies, conducted by family members or by a priest on their behalf, participants attempted to raise the spirits of their dead relatives to express a request, and would enter an ecstatic state by using opium. Alternatively, he says, the opium, which was placed next to the body, may have been intended to help the spirit of the deceased rise from the grave in preparation for the meeting with their relatives in the next life.

“Canaanites attached great importance to ‘satisfying the needs of the dead’ through ritual ceremonies performed for them by the living, and believed that in return, the spirits would ensure the health and safety of their living relatives”

Highly Valued Drug

Vanessa Linares of Tel Aviv University explains: “This is the only psychoactive drug that has been found in the Levant in the Late Bronze Age. In 2020, researchers discovered cannabis residue on an altar in Tel Arad, but this dated back the Iron Age, hundreds of years after the opium in Tel Yehud. Because the opium was found at a burial site, it offers us a rare glimpse into the burial customs of the ancient world. Of course, we do not know what the opium’s role was in the ceremony – whether the Canaanites in Yehud believed that the dead would need opium in the afterlife, or whether it was the priests who consumed the drug for the purposes of the ceremony.” “Moreover, the discovery sheds light on the opium trade in general. One must remember that opium is produced from poppies, which grew in Asia Minor – that is, in the territory of current-day Turkey – whereas the pottery in which we identified the opium were made in Cyprus. In other words, the opium was brought to Yehud from Turkey, through Cyprus; this of course indicates the importance that was attributed to the drug.” Dr. Ron Be’eri of the Antiquities Authority adds, “Until now, no written sources have been discovered that describe the exact use of narcotics in burial ceremonies, so we can only speculate what was done with opium. From documents that were discovered in the Ancient Near East, it appears that the Canaanites attached great importance to ‘satisfying the needs of the dead’ through ritual ceremonies performed for them by the living, and believed that in return, the spirits would ensure the health and safety of their living relatives.” According to Eli Eskosido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “New scientific capabilities have opened a window for us to fascinating information and have provided us with answers to questions that we never would have dreamed of finding in the past. One can only imagine what other information we will be able to extract from the underground discoveries that will emerge in the future.” Featured image: Vanessa Linares from Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archeology

Slowing Down Skin Cancer

Written by AUFTAU on 22 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Once melanoma, or skin cancer, spreads to the brain, it becomes extremely aggressive. Individuals with this stage of cancer are given an average 15 months to live, and that is following surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Researchers from Tel Aviv University deciphered, for the first time, a mechanism that enables skin cancer to metastasize to the brain and managed to delay the spread of the disease by 60% to 80% (depending on the stage of the intervention) using existing treatments.

The encouraging study was led by Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro and Ph.D. student Sabina Pozzi of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. The results were published in the scientific journal JCI Insight.

“In an advanced stage, 90% of melanoma patients will develop brain metastases. This is a puzzling statistic. We expect to see metastases in the lungs and liver, but the brain is supposed to be a protected organ.”

How do the Cancer Cells Infiltrate the Brain?

“In an advanced stage, 90% of melanoma [/skin cancer] patients will develop brain metastases,” explains Prof. Satchi-Fainaro. “This is a puzzling statistic. We expect to see metastases in the lungs and liver, but the brain is supposed to be a protected organ. The blood-brain barrier keeps harmful substances from entering the brain, and here it supposedly doesn’t do the job—cancer cells from the skin circulate in the blood and manage to reach the brain. We asked ourselves with ‘whom’ the cancer cells ‘talk’ to in the brain to infiltrate it.”

The researchers found that in melanoma patients with brain metastases, the cancer cells “recruit” cells called ‘astrocytes’, star-shaped cells found in the spinal cord and brain which are responsible for maintaining stable conditions (/homeostasis) in the brain.

“The astrocytes are the first to come to correct the situation in the event of a stroke or trauma, for example,” says Prof. Satchi-Fainaro, “and it is with them that the cancer cells interact, exchanging molecules and corrupting them.”

Protecting the Brain’s Border Guards

“Moreover, the cancer cells recruit the astrocytes so that they do not inhibit the spread of the metastases. As such, they create local inflammation in the melanoma cells-astrocytes interaction areas that increase the permeability through the blood-brain barrier, as well as the division and migration of the cancer cells.”

“The communication between them is reflected in the fact that the astrocytes begin to secrete a protein that promotes inflammation called MCP-1 (also known as CCL2), and in response to this, the cancer cells begin to express its receptors CCR2 and CCR4, which we suspected to be responsible for the destructive communication with the astrocytes.”

“Both the antibody and the small molecule we used (…) have already been tested on humans as part of clinical trials. Therefore, these treatments are considered safe, and we can try to repurpose them for melanoma.”

To test their hypothesis, Prof. Satchi-Fainaro and her team tried to inhibit the expression of the protein and its receptors in genetically engineered lab models and in 3D models of primary melanoma and brain metastases. To this end, the researchers used both an antibody (biological molecule) and a small molecule (synthetic), designed to block the MCP-1 protein. They also employed CRISPR technology, a gene-editing technique, to genetically edit the cancer cells and cut out the two genes that express the two relevant receptors, CCR2 and CCR4. With each of the methods, the researchers were able to delay the spread of metastases.

“These treatments succeeded in delaying the penetration of the cancer cells into the brain and their subsequent spread throughout the brain,” says Prof. Satchi-Fainaro. The team succeeded in achieving a 60% to 80% delay, depending on the stage of the intervention. They achieved the best results with the treatment conducted immediately after surgery to remove the primary melanoma and were able to prevent the metastases from penetrating the brain.

“I believe that the treatment is suitable for the clinic as a preventive measure,” says Satchi-Fainaro. “Both the antibody and the small molecule we used—which are primarily intended to treat sclerosis, diabetes, liver fibrosis, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as serve as a biomarker for other types of cancer—have already been tested on humans as part of clinical trials. Therefore, these treatments are considered safe, and we can try to repurpose them for melanoma.”

The research was conducted in collaboration with additional scientists and physicians from Tel Aviv University, including Prof. Adi Barzel, Dr. Asaf Madi, Prof. Iris Barshack, Prof. Eran Perlson, and Prof. Inna Slutsky. International researchers also participated in the study, including Prof. Eytan Ruppin from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Prof. Henry Brem and Thomas Hyde from Johns Hopkins University-, and Prof. Helena Florindo from the University of Lisbon.

The study was funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the Kahn Foundation, the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF).

Featured image: Ph.D. student Sabina Pozzi and Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro

Facebook Proven to Negatively Impact Mental Health

Written by AUFTAU on 19 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

While many studies have found a correlation between the use of social media and various symptoms related to mental health, so far, it has been challenging to ascertain whether social media was actually the cause of poor mental health. By applying a novel research method, researchers have now succeeded in establishing such a causality: A study led by researchers from Tel Aviv University, MIT Sloan School of Management and Bocconi University reveals new findings about the negative impact of Facebook on the mental health of American college students.

The study was led by Dr. Roee Levy of the Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Alexey Makarin of MIT Sloan School of Management, and Prof. Luca Braghieri of Bocconi University. The paper is forthcoming in the scientific journal American Economic Review, and was awarded a prize at the 2022 Economic Society European Meeting (ESEM).

“Over the last fifteen years, the mental health trends of adolescents and young adults in the United States have worsened considerably,” says Prof. Braghieri. “Since such worsening in trends coincided with the rise of social media, it seemed plausible to speculate that the two phenomena might be related.”

The study was based on data that dates back to the 2004 advent of Facebook at Harvard University, before it took the internet by storm. Facebook was initially accessible only to Harvard students who had a Harvard email address. Quickly spreading to other colleges in and outside the US, the network was made available to the general public in the US and beyond in September 2006. The researchers were able to analyze the impact of social media use by comparing colleges that had access to the platform to colleges that did not. The findings show a rise in the number of students reporting severe depression and anxiety (7% and 20% respectively).

“We hypothesized that unfavorable social comparisons could explain the effects we found, and that students more susceptible to such comparisons were more likely to suffer negative effects.”

Here Comes Trouble

The study combined information from two different datasets: the specific dates on which Facebook was introduced at 775 American colleges, and the National College Health Assessment (NCHA), a survey conducted periodically at American colleges.

The researchers built an index based on 15 relevant questions in the NCHA, in which students were asked about their mental health in the past year. They found a statistically significant worsening in mental health symptoms, especially depression and anxiety, after the arrival of Facebook:

7% increase in number of students who reported having suffering, at least once during the preceding year, depression so severe that it was difficult for them to function
20% increase in number of students who reported anxiety disorders
2% increase in number of students expected to experience moderate to severe depression
3% increase in number of students experienced impairment to their academic performance due to depression or anxiety

Dr. Roee Levy (Photo: Oren Sarig)

Social Media vs. Social Circumstances

TAU’s Dr. Levy notes, “When studying the potential mechanisms, we hypothesized that unfavorable social comparisons could explain the effects we found, and that students more susceptible to such comparisons were more likely to suffer negative effects.”

“More students believed that others consumed more alcohol, even though alcohol consumption had not changed significantly.”

In other words, the methodology also considered any differences in mental health over time or across colleges that were not related to Facebook. This approach enabled conditions similar to those of a ‘natural experiment,’ which would be impossible today now that billions of people around the world use many different social networks.

To test this interpretation, the team investigated more data from the NCHA. They found, for example, a greater negative impact on the mental health of students who lived off-campus and were consequently less involved in social activities, and a greater negative impact on students with credit card debts who saw their supposedly wealthier peers on the network.

“We also found evidence that Facebook had changed students’ beliefs about their peers,” adds Levy. “More students believed that others consumed more alcohol, even though alcohol consumption had not changed significantly.”

Are Corals in Deep Trouble?

Written by AUFTAU on 18 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Reproductive capacity of coral decreases with water depth.

Today, when coral reefs around the world are being severely damaged by climate change and other human impacts, many are pinning their hopes on deeper reefs to provide a ’lifeline’ of support for shallow-water coral reefs, which may be more exposed to some hazards. A new Tel Aviv University study, in collaboration with the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, suggests that this hope might have been overestimated.

The findings of the study show that coral spawning events in the Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat, Red Sea, at the deep end of the focal species’ depth range (~30–45 m) occur at much lower intensities than those at shallow water (0–30 m). While in shallow water about half of the corals engaged in each reproductive event, this proportion dropped to only 10–20 percent in the deeper part of the reef.

According to the researchers, the significance of this finding is that there is an insufficient basis for the prevalent hope that deep reefs can serve as a ‘lifeline’ for degraded shallow reefs. In fact, they suggest that for some coral species, the opposite is true—to survive through time, deeper coral populations may more often rely on shallow-reef coral more than vice versa.

The study also demonstrates that sharp increases in water temperature within a day or two affected the onset of the breeding events in the examined species.

The study was led by PhD candidate Ronen Liberman from Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology and Dr. Tom Shlesinger from Florida Institute of Technology; and supervised by Prof. Yehuda Benayahu of Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. Prof. Yossi Loya, also of TAU’s Zoology School and Steinhardt Museum, participated in the study as well. The research was recently published in the prominent journal Ecology, the study partially funded by the European Commission as part of its Horizon 2020 program.

Capturing the Moment

The uniqueness of the study lies within the long-term and intensive examination of coral reproduction throughout a wide depth gradient spanning 0–50 m. The study was conducted over the course of five years to include five breeding seasons. It examined the reproduction of soft corals, also called “Octocorallia,” some of which live throughout a wide depth range in the Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat. Specifically, the researchers focused on a species of a soft coral, called Rhytisma fulvum, which reproduces by “surface-brooding”—a reproductive mode by which the coral brood, or hatch, their strikingly yellow larvae glued externally to the coral surface for several days. This unique reproductive mode helps scientists overcome many of the difficulties in examining and monitoring coral reproductive events, especially in the more challenging-to-work depths.

Ronen Liberman explains: “Most coral species are hermaphrodites, meaning that each individual functions as both male and female, and they reproduce by brief and synchronous spawning events, which usually occur once a year in the summer months. During this synchronized event, many corals simultaneously release a huge amount of sperm and eggs which meet externally in the water, where they undergo fertilization and form embryos. In other species, male corals release sperm into the water, and these cells migrate into female corals and fertilize the eggs internally, so that fertilization and embryonic development occurs within the coral. In both cases, the event lasts only a few minutes, mostly at night, so it is very difficult for researchers to ‘capture the moment,’ especially at great depths where divers cannot remain for a long time. Therefore, very little is known about coral reproduction at depths greater than approximately 15 m.”

A Colorful Event

In the present study, the researchers focused on the soft coral Rhytisma fulvum which lives in the Gulf of Eilat and Aqaba along a large depth range: from reef flats close to the sea surface and down to 50m. A particular reason for the choice of this species is its unique reproductive strategy, called “surface-brooding”. This reproductive process begins when male colonies release sperm cells in a synchronized manner, which later reach female colonies where internal fertilization occurs.

Unlike in other coral species, however, in this species, embryos do not proceed to develop internally within the coral. Instead, the fertilized eggs are released and cling to the colony via mucus for six days, where they develop into larvae. “The developing embryos have such a vibrant yellow color that makes it a very colorful event, lasting for several days. Thanks to that fact, we were able to monitor rather easily a large number of colonies along a large depth range throughout five annual reproductive seasons,” says Ronen.

Trying to create their own sunshine? (Photo: Tom Shlesinger)

Corals Like it Hot

The researchers dove to various depths, positioned temperature sensors, and examined several characteristics of the breeding events–timing, duration, and intensity of the events.

They sought to understand which environmental factors influence the onset of reproductive events:

The study showed that the timing and synchronization of reproduction events, at any given depth are associated with a clear and fast increase in water temperature of 1–1.5 degrees Celsius within 24-48 hours – a kind of a “heat wave” that is typical in the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat in early summer. In shallow water (approx. 5-15 m), the reproductive events always occurred days to weeks before they were observed at the greater depths. The researchers attributed this phenomenon to the short-term “heat waves” in the deeper water usually occurred only several days to weeks after they occurred in the shallow water.

The reproductive intensity was measured by the number of colonies that reproduced and released embryos at each event. “We found that the number of colonies releasing embryos was significantly smaller at a depth greater than 30 meters,” Ronen adds. “Whereas at a shallow depth, about half of the colonies participated in each spawning event, in the deeper water the participation rate dropped to only 10–20 percent.”

Considering these findings, the researchers believe that the deep-water coral populations are less likely to thrive on their own and are reliant to some extent on populations from the shallower reef. Because of their lower breeding intensity, it appears that the deep-water coral population requires the contribution of the larvae from the corals found in the shallower water. The researchers suggest that this ‘weakness’ among the deep corals may be linked to the much lower intensity of sunlight that reaches their habitat. Sunlight is necessary for photosynthesis, in which symbiotic algae found within the coral tissue convert light energy to provide the coral host with the chemical energy it needs.

Protecting those at High Risk

The researchers conclude: “Today, when coral reefs around the world are being severely damaged by climate change and other human impacts, many are pinning their hopes on deeper reefs to provide a ’lifeline’ of support for shallow-water coral reefs, which may be more exposed to some hazards. While we do not wish to diminish the optimism, our research suggests that this hope might have been overestimated. Rather, it looks like it is the deeper coral populations that need the shallow ones to persist more than vice versa. Therefore, these hidden deep reefs require attention and protection on their own right, perhaps even more than the shallow reefs.”

Featured image: Life at the bottom (Photo: Jessica Bellworthy)

Tel Aviv University and Industries in India Strengthen their Ties

Written by AUFTAU on 15 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

TAU Students Team Wins 1st Place in Int’l Mathematics Competition

Written by AUFTAU on 12 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

An impressive achievement for Tel Aviv University students, who won first prize in a renowned mathematics competition, the International Mathematics Competition (IMC). The competition took place in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, with the participation of 600 students from leading universities around the world. At the end of the one-week long competition, the students from Tel Aviv University got the highest group score (292.5 points), as well as the highest individual score.

The TAU delegation consisted of 8 students from the School of Mathematical Sciences: Shvo Regavim, Noam Tashma, Lior Hadassi, Shahar Friedman, Lior Schain, Dror Fried, Tommy Winetraub and Uri Kreitner. They were accompanied by team leaders Dr. Dan Carmon and Dor Metzer from the School.

Other competition participants came from leading universities, such as: University of Cambridge (England), École Polytechnique (France), Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (Germany), University of Amsterdam (Holland), University College London (England), Loránd Eötvös University (Hungary), Barcelona University (Spain).

“The competition required a combination of skills: mathematical knowledge at a very high level, along with creativity and the ability to deal with pressure.”

Academic Powerhouse in World of Mathematics

The Head of TAU’s School of Mathematical Sciences, Prof. Yaron Ostrover, and the program coordinator, Prof. Yehuda Shalom, congratulated the students, and said: “We are very proud of our students for winning first place in the IMC. Their efforts and commitment, as well as that of their team leader, Dr. Dan Carmon, are praiseworthy.”

“TAU’s School of Mathematical Sciences values the preparation of the future generation who will be at the forefront of Israel’s research, science and technology industries. The impressive achievement showcases an important aspect of Israel in general and Tel Aviv University in particular, as an academic powerhouse in the world of mathematics. We also congratulate other universities in Israel for their great achievement.”

Dr. Carmon, the team’s math coach and an engineer with StarkWare says: “We competed against some of the best math students in the world, and are very proud of our success. I’d like to congratulate all the Israeli participants for their excellent achievement. The competition required a combination of skills: mathematical knowledge at a very high level, along with creativity and the ability to deal with pressure. I am sure that the skills the students acquired in the competition will serve them in the future as well. In addition, I’d like to thank my colleagues at StarkWare, who helped us with the expenses involved.”

Mink the Mascot Works His Magic

Dror Fried, one of the team members, says: “The IMC competition is intended for university students, which means that it also includes integrals, linear algebra, and more. Our students tend to perform well in mathematical competitions, but I did not expect that we’d win the first place in the IMC. I was very happy at the closing ceremony when it was announced. I’m also very grateful to Mink, our group mascot, who helped make it happen.”

“Winning is exhilarating,” notes Lior Hadassi. “The atmosphere at the event is very friendly and the medals are just plastic and really not the center of the event, but it’s always fun to win.”

Paying respect to Mink

“We’re all graduates of the Youth Olympiad, with lots of experience in competitive mathematics. Competitions are always stressful, though. Even the hundredth time around. No matter how prepared you think you are, once the competition starts, your adrenaline flows.”

A Meeting of Cultures

“The IMC is a meeting of cultures,” explains Lior. “It was fun to meet teams from all over Europe, from Germany and France, and even from Singapore. I met some friends who I know from the Youth Olympics and who I didn’t think I’d get to see again.”

“This is the fifth international competition that I’m competing in, but the first four of them were all in a virtual format because of Covid-19,” says Dror. “So, it was a welcome opportunity to meet everyone. I spoke with quite a few students from around the world. Everyone had interesting things to say about their country, university, the competition itself, or just stories like how the Slovenians steal the Germans’ mascot every year. I’m in touch with some of the participants, and the WhatsApp group of the contestants is still active.”

“Competitions are always stressful, though.” adds Lior. “Even the hundredth time around. No matter how prepared you think you are, once the competition starts, your adrenaline flows. The most stressful part is when you’re unable to solve a question and the clock is ticking. On the first day of the competition, I was stuck on a question during three full hours. Only in the last half hour of the test did it occur to me how I should solve it.”

“Thank you to Dan Carmon and Dor Metzer, our team leaders, who did a great job organizing our participation and making sure that none of us got lost on the trip. A huge thank you to Lev Radzivilovksi, the head coach of the Israeli math team. Although this time he was not part of the delegation, he cultivated my mathematical abilities and those of many other participants. Without him, Tel Aviv University would not have made this achievement,” concludes Dror.

Dror Fried enjoys Bulgarian nature

Making Wheat Rust-Resistant

Written by AUFTAU on 12 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Wheat supplies about one fifth of all calories and proteins consumed by humanity. However, through the millennia, the process of cultivation has reduced the diversity of wheat varieties, and consequently modern wheat varieties are more vulnerable than their predecessors to diseases, pests, and climate hazards. The escalating climate crisis creates an urgent need to produce wheat varieties capable of thriving in extreme environmental and climatic conditions and withstanding pests and diseases.

An international research team that includes researchers from Tel Aviv University has isolated three disease-resistance genes from wild grasses, enabling resistance to rust diseases that cause severe damage to wheat yields worldwide.

It’s in The Genes

The project was facilitated by several technological innovations that drastically cut down the time needed to identify and isolate genes from wild plant species and transfer them into cultivated plants.

“Since wheat first originated in our part of the world, wild cereals growing in our region are the progenitors of cultivated wheat, still carrying a rich variety of genetic traits that can be used to develop improved wheat varieties.”

The three genes were isolated from plants preserved in the Liberman Okinow Gene Bank of Wild Cereals at the Institute for Cereal Crops Research (ICCR) at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. Two of the genes, providing immunity against stem rust disease, were isolated by an international team led by researchers from the UK. The third gene, isolated by researchers at TAU, provides resistance against two different diseases – leaf rust and stripe rust, currently exacerbated due to rising temperatures around the world.

Prof. Amir Sharon, Head of ICCR, says that isolating the genes was enabled by several technological breakthroughs, and that these novel technologies can also be used to isolate genes for other beneficial properties. Transferred into the genome of cultivated wheat, such genes will serve to generate better wheat varieties – featuring higher yields, and resistant to diseases, pests, and harsh environmental conditions. “Just as each of us carries only a small part of his/her grandparents’ genes, cultivated wheat contains only a remnant of its ancient ancestors’ genetic heritage. Since wheat first originated in our part of the world, wild cereals growing in our region are the progenitors of cultivated wheat, still carrying a rich variety of genetic traits that can be used to develop improved wheat varieties,” explains Prof. Sharon.

“Certain traits of wild plants have already been incorporated into cultivated wheat over the years, however this great genetic potential remained mostly untapped, since, until recently, it took more than a decade to isolate a single gene. Today, thanks to several technological breakthroughs, especially genome sequencing and bioinformatics, we can isolate new genes in less than a year. Thus, in the past year alone, three genes providing resistance to various rust diseases were isolated from seeds of wild plants preserved in our gene bank. These genes, implanted in cultivated wheat, can significantly reduce damage from the relevant diseases with no need for pesticides – preventing yield losses while also protecting the environment.”

In addition to disease resistance, Prof. Sharon’s team is collaborating with researchers worldwide to isolate genes for other beneficial traits. Thus, for example, they work with researchers from Ben-Gurion University who recently isolated pest-resistance genes from wild wheat, and in our own Institute they’ve identified a new gene in wheat progenitors, that may provide endurance in an arid climate.

Prof. Amir Sharon & Dr. Arava Shatil Cohen in the lab

‘Safe Box’ to Tackle Climate Change

In addition to new methods for isolating genes, great advances have been made in biotechnology, specifically in technologies for gene transfer and genome editing. These technologies enable the transfer of new genes to crop plants, as well as introduction of changes into existing wheat genes.

“Essentially, the collection serves as a safe box for genes needed to create new, improved varieties of wheat that will give humanity larger crops and meet the challenges of climate change.”

ICCR implements these new technologies, offering services of wheat gene transformation and genome editing to researchers in other institutes, as well as commercial companies. “With the support of the Chief Scientist of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture, and the Israeli Center for Genome Editing in Agriculture, we have established a center for wheat transformation and genome editing at ICCR,” shares Prof. Sharon. “This is an important milestone, enabling us, for the first time, to perform effective wheat transformation here in Israel,” says Prof. Sharon.

Dr. Arava Shatil Cohen, Head of the wheat transformation unit, adds: “With these technologies we can implant new genes and use genome editing methods to give wheat new properties. We utilize our systems to promote research at ICCR and help companies and researchers from other institutions who wish to use this technology”.

Today, ICCR’s gene bank includes over 17,000 seeds of 20 different species of wild cereals, collected in Israel over the past 50 years. The collection is unique, both because of its large number of species related to cultivated wheat, and because a large portion of the plants preserved in the gene bank were collected in natural habitats that no longer exist due to rapid urban development in Israel. “Essentially, the collection serves as a safe box for genes needed to create new, improved varieties of wheat that will give humanity larger crops and meet the challenges of climate change,” says Prof. Sharon. “The new technologies are the key to the safe box: they enable us to identify and extract the needed genes quickly and incorporate them into cultivated wheat.”

Like Manna from the Sea

Written by AUFTAU on 11 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Innovative technology may ease global food crisis: “enriched seaweed” with extremely high nutritional value.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute in Haifa have developed an innovative technology that enables the growth of “enriched seaweed” infused with nutrients, proteins, dietary fiber, and minerals for human and animal needs.

According to the researchers, the state-of-the-art technology significantly increases the growth rate, protein levels, healthy carbohydrates, and minerals in the seaweed’s tissues – making the “enriched seaweed” a natural superfood with extremely high nutritional value, which can be used in the future for the health food industry and to secure an unlimited food source.

The research was led by Ph.D. student Doron Ashkenazi, under the guidance of Prof. Avigdor Abelson from the School of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University and Prof. Alvaro Israel of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLR) in Tel Shikmona, Haifa. The article was published in the scientific journal Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies.

“Seaweed can be regarded as a natural superfood, more abundant in the necessary components of the human diet than other food sources.”

A Natural Superfood

Doron Ashkenazi explains that in the study, local species of the algae Ulva, Gracilaria and Hypnea were grown near fish farming systems under different environmental conditions. The special conditions allowed the seaweed to flourish and enabled a significant improvement in their nutritional value to the point of their becoming “enriched seaweed,” a superfood.

“Seaweed can be regarded as a natural superfood, more abundant in the necessary components of the human diet than other food sources,” Ashkenazi adds. “Through the technological approach we developed, a farm owner or entrepreneur will be able to plan in advance a production line of seaweed rich in the substances in which they are interested, which can be used as health foods or nutritional supplements; for example, seaweed with a particularly high level of protein, seaweed rich in minerals such as iron, iodine, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, or in special pigments or anti-oxidants. The enriched seaweed can be used to help populations suffering from malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies, for example disadvantaged populations around the world, as well as supplements to a vegetarian or vegan diet.”

In fact, the use of seaweed as a rich food source that meets all human nutritional needs is reminiscent of the biblical manna that fed the Israelites in the desert.

Layout of the land-based, outdoor, aquaculture system as was stationed at the IOLR institute, Haifa, Israel

“Technologies of this type are undoubtedly a model for a better future for humanity, a future where humans live in idyll and in health in their environment.”

Aquaculture, Tomorrow’s Agriculture

Unlike terrestrial agriculture, aquaculture, and in particular the proposed seaweed farming approach, does not require extensive land, fresh water, or large amounts of fertilizer. Environmentally friendly, it preserves nature and the ecological balance by reducing environmental risks. The new methodology, in fact, offers an ideal situation, of sustainable and clean agriculture.

Today, integrated aquaculture is beginning to receive support from governments around the world due to its environmental benefits, which include the reduction of nutrient loads to coastal waters and of the emission of gases and carbon footprints. In this way, it contributes to combatting the climate crisis and global warming.

“Technologies of this type are undoubtedly a model for a better future for humanity, a future where humans live in idyll and in health in their environment,” concludes Ashkenazi.

The research was conducted in collaboration with other leading researchers from around the country, including Guy Paz and Dr. Yael Segal of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLR) in Haifa, Dr. Shoshana Ben-Valid, an expert in organic chemistry, Dr. Merav Nadav Tsubery of the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Exact Sciences at Bar-Ilan University, and Dr. Eitan Salomon from the National Center for Mariculture in Eilat.

Covid-19 Antibodies May Eliminate Need for Boosters

Written by AUFTAU on 11 September 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

A team of Tel Aviv University researchers has demonstrated that antibodies isolated from the immune system of recovered COVID-19 patients are effective in neutralizing all known strains of the virus, including the Delta and the Omicron variants. The discovery may eliminate the need for repeated booster vaccinations and strengthen the immune system of populations at risk.

The research was led by Dr. Natalia Freund and doctoral students Michael Mor and Ruofan Lee of the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and of the TAU Center for Combating Pandemics. The study was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Ben Croker of the University of California San Diego. Prof. Ye Xiang of Tsinghua University in Beijing. Prof. Meital Gal-Tanamy and Dr. Moshe Dessau of Bar-Ilan University also took part in the study. The study was published in the Nature journal Communications Biology.

Highly Effective Against Delta and Omicron

The present study is a continuation of a preliminary study conducted in October 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. At that time, Dr. Freund and her colleagues sequenced all the B immune system cells from the blood of people who had recovered from the original COVID strain in Israel, and isolated nine antibodies that the patients produced. The researchers now found that some of these antibodies are very effective in neutralizing the new coronavirus variants, Delta and Omicron.

“In the previous study, we showed that the various antibodies that are formed in response to infection with the original virus are directed against different sites of the virus,” says Dr. Freund. “The most effective antibodies were those that bound to the virus’s ‘spike’ protein, in the same place where the spike binds the cellular receptor ACE2. Of course, we were not the only ones to isolate these antibodies, and the global health system made extensive use of them until the arrival of the different variants of the coronavirus, which in fact rendered most of those antibodies useless.”

“In the current study, we proved that two other antibodies, TAU-1109 and TAU-2310, which bind the viral spike protein in a different area from the region where most of the antibodies were concentrated until now (and were therefore less effective in neutralizing the original strain) are actually very effective in neutralizing the Delta and Omicron variants. According to our findings, the effectiveness of the first antibody, TAU-1109, in neutralizing the Omicron strain is 92%, and in neutralizing the Delta strain, 90%. The second antibody, TAU-2310, neutralizes the Omicron variant with an efficacy of 84%, and the Delta variant with an efficacy of 97%.”

Can Serve as Effective Substitute for Boosters

According to Dr. Freund, the surprising effectiveness of these antibodies might be related to the evolution of the virus: “The infectivity of the virus increased with each variant because each time, it changed the amino acid sequence of the part of the spike protein that binds to the ACE2 receptor, thereby increasing its infectivity and at the same time evading the natural antibodies that were created following vaccinations.”

“In contrast, the antibodies TAU-1109 and TAU-2310 don’t bind to the ACE2 receptor binding site, but to another region of the spike protein – an area of the viral spike that for some reason does not undergo many mutations – and they are therefore effective in neutralizing more viral variants. These findings emerged as we tested all the known COVID strains to date.”

“In our view, targeted treatment with antibodies and their delivery to the body in high concentrations can serve as an effective substitute for repeated boosters, especially for at-risk populations and those with weakened immune systems.”

The two antibodies, cloned in Dr. Freund’s laboratory at Tel Aviv University, were sent for tests to check their effectiveness against live viruses in laboratory cultures at the University of California San Diego, and against pseudo viruses in the laboratories of the Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University in the Galilee; the results were identical and equally encouraging in both tests.

Dr. Freund believes that the antibodies can bring about a real revolution in the fight against COVID-19: “We need to look at the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of previous disease outbreaks that humankind has witnessed. People who were vaccinated against smallpox at birth and who today are 50 years old still have antibodies, so they are probably protected, at least partially, from the monkeypox virus that we have recently been hearing about. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the coronavirus. For reasons we still don’t yet fully understand, the level of antibodies against COVID-19 declines significantly after three months, which is why we see people getting infected again and again, even after being vaccinated three times.”

“In our view, targeted treatment with antibodies and their delivery to the body in high concentrations can serve as an effective substitute for repeated boosters, especially for at-risk populations and those with weakened immune systems. COVID-19 infection can cause serious illness, and we know that providing antibodies in the first days following infection can stop the spread of the virus. It is therefore possible that by using effective antibody treatment, we will not have to provide booster doses to the entire population every time there is a new variant.”

Featured image: Dr. Natalia Freund from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine (Photo: Yoram Reshef)