Can Higher Temperatures Accelerate the Rate of Evolution?

Written by AUFTAU on 17 February 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Can environment impact genetic diversity in face of changing conditions, such as higher temperatures (think global warming)? Researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered that epigenetic inheritance – inheritance which does not involving changes in the DNA sequence – can affect the genetic composition of the population for many generations. The environment can actually impact genetic diversity under certain conditions and the researchers believe that it’s a way for the environment to adjust genetic diversity.

Worms Get It from their Mama’s Mama’s Mama’s…

Females of the worm species C. elegans produce both egg cells (or “oocytes”) and sperm, and can self-reproduce (hence are considered hermaphrodites). They produce their sperm in a limited amount, only when they are young. At the same time, there are also rare C. elegans males in the population that can provide more sperm to the female worms through mating.

In normal conditions, the female hermaphrodites secrete pheromones to attract males for mating only when they grow old and run out of their own sperm (at this point mating becomes the only way for them to continue and reproduce). Therefore, when the hermaphrodite is young, and still has sperm, she can choose whether to mix her genes by sexually reproducing with a male, or not.

In the new study, exposure to elevated temperatures was found to encourage more hermaphrodites to mate, and this trait was also preserved in the offspring for multiple generations, even though they were raised in comfortable temperatures and did not experience the stress from the increased heat.

The study, which was published today in the journal Development Cell, was led by Prof. Oded Rechavi and Dr. Itai Toker, as well as Dr. Itamar Lev and MD-PhD student Dr. Yael Mor, who did their doctorates under Prof. Rechavi’s supervision at the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry & Biophysics, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, and the Sagol School of Neuroscience. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Rockefeller University in New York.

Securing Genetic Diversity

Why did the higher temperatures result in the C. elegans worms becoming more attractive, mating more with males? Dr. Itai Toker explains that “The heat conditions we created disrupted the inheritance of small RNA molecules that control the expression of genes in the sperm, so the worm’s sperm was not able to fertilize the egg with the efficiency that it normally would. The worm sensed that the sperm it produced was partially damaged, and therefore began to secrete the pheromone and attract males at an earlier stage, while it was still young.”

If that wasn’t enough, Dr. Rechavi points out that the really fascinating finding was that the trait of enhanced attractiveness was then passed on for many generations to offspring who did not experience the conditions of higher temperatures. The researchers found that heritable small RNA molecules, not changes in the DNA, transmitted the enhanced attractiveness between generations. Small RNAs control gene expression through a mechanism known as RNA interference or gene silencing – they can destroy mRNA molecules and thus prevent specific genes from functioning in a given time at a given tissue or cell.

Dr. Itai Toker adds that, “In the past, we discovered a mechanism that passes on small RNA molecules to future generations, in parallel and in a different way from the usual DNA-based inheritance mechanism. This enables the transmission of certain traits transgenerationally. By specifically inhibiting the mechanism of small RNA inheritance, we demonstrated that the inheritance of increased attractiveness depends on the transmission of small RNAs that control sperm activity.”

Mating, as opposed to fertilizing themselves, comes at a price for the female, hermaphroditic worms, as it allows them to pass on only half of their genome to the next generation. This “dilution” of the parents’ genetic contribution is a heavy price to pay. The benefit, however, is that it increases genetic diversity. By conducting lab evolution experiments we indeed discovered that it may be a useful adaptive strategy.

The researchers later experimented with evolution: They tracked the offspring of mothers who passed on the trait of attractiveness to males with the help of small RNAs, and allowed them to compete for males, for many generations, against normal offspring from a control group. The researhers observed how the inheritance of sexual attractiveness led to more mating in these competitive conditions, and that as a result the attractive offspring were able to spread their genes in the population more successfully.

Prof. Oded Rechavi (photo: Yehonatan Zur Duvdevani)

Environment’s Response to Global Warming?

In general, living things respond to their environment by changing their gene expression, without changing the genes themselves. The understanding that some of the epigenetic information, including information about the parents’ responses to environmental challenges, is encoded in small RNA molecules and can be passed down from generation to generation has revolutionized our understanding of heredity, challenging the dogma that has dominated evolution for a century or more. However, to date researchers have not been able to find a way in which epigenetic inheritance can affect the genetic sequence (DNA) itself.

“Epigenetics in general, and the inheritance of parental responses facilitated by small RNAs in particular, is a new field that is garnering a lot of attention,” says Dr. Lev. “We have now proven that the environment can change not only the expression of genes, but, indirectly, also genetic heredity, and for many generations.”

“Generally, epigenetic inheritance of small RNA molecules is a transient matter: the organism is exposed to a particular environment, and preserves the epigenetic information for 3-5 generations. In contrast, evolutionary change occurs over hundreds and thousands of generations. We looked for a link between epigenetics and genetics and found that a change in the environment, that is relevant to global warming, induces transgenerational secretion of a pheromone to attract males, and thus affects the evolution of the worms’ genome.”

Dr. Mor adds, “We think that it’s a way for the environment to adjust genetic diversity. After all, evolution requires variability and selection. The classical theory is that the environment can influence selection, but cannot affect variability, which is created randomly as a result of mutations. We found that the environment can actually impact genetic diversity under certain conditions.”

Why do Locusts Form Destructive Swarms?

Written by AUFTAU on 17 February 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Locust swarms that ruin all crops in their path have been a major cause of famine from Biblical times to the present. Over the last three years, large parts of Africa, India and Pakistan have been hard-hit by locust outbreaks, and climate change is expected to exacerbate the problem even further.

A new multidisciplinary study by experts in fields as varied as insect behavior and physiology, microbiology, and computational models of evolution, has led to valuable insights concerning locust swarming: “Locust swarms form when individual locusts, usually solitary and harmless, aggregate and begin to migrate. However, the causes for this behavior remain largely unknown, and an effective solution is yet to be found,” explains Prof. Amir Ayali from the School of Zoology at TAU’s George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences.

Following recent studies, indicating that microbiomes can influence their hosts’ social behavior, the researchers hypothesized that locusts’ microbiomes may play a role in changing the behavior of their hosts to become more ‘sociable’. The study was published in Environmental Microbiology.

The Bacteria that Fly with Borrowed Wings

To test their hypothesis, the researchers examined the gut microbiomes of locusts reared in the laboratory, and found a profound change when individuals reared in solitary conditions joined a large group of about 200 locusts.

Omer Lavy: “The most significant change was observed in bacteria called Weissella, almost completely absent from the microbiome of solitary locusts, which became dominant soon after their hosts joined the group.”

The researchers then developed a mathematical model that was used for analyzing the conditions under which induction of locust aggregation produces significant evolutionary advantages for Weissella, allowing these bacteria to spread to numerous other hosts. Based on these results, the researchers hypothesize that Weissella bacteria may play an important role in the locust aggregation behavior. In other words, the bacteria may in some way encourage their hosts to change their behavior and become more ‘sociable’.

Prof. Ayali concludes: “Our study contributes to the understanding of locust swarming – a leading cause of famine from antiquity to the present. Our findings do not prove unequivocally that the Weissella bacteria are responsible for the swarming and migration of locusts. The results do, however, suggest a high probability that the bacteria play an important role in inducing this behavior – a new hypothesis never previously proposed. We hope that this new understanding will drive the development of new means for combating locust outbreaks – still a major threat to countless people, animals, and plants all over the globe.”

The new study was based on a multidisciplinary collaboration of experts in fields as varied as insect behavior and physiology, microbiology, and computational models of evolution. The project was led by Prof. Amir Ayali and PhD student Omer Lavy from the School of Zoology at TAU’s George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. Participants included Prof. Lilach Hadany, Ohad Lewin-Epstein and Yonatan Bendett from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security and Prof. Uri Gophna from The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, all of the Wise Faculty. They were joined by Dr. Eran Gefen from the University of Haifa-Oranim.

Discovery May Enable Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s

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

A new study at Tel Aviv University revealed abnormal brain activity that precedes the onset of Alzheimer’s first symptoms by many years: increased activity in the hippocampus, a region of the brain which plays a key role in memory processes, during anesthesia and sleep, resulting from failure in the mechanism that stabilizes the neural network. The researchers believe that the discovery of this abnormal activity during specific brain states may enable early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, eventually leading to a more effective treatment of a disease that still lacks effective therapies.

The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell Reports, and led by Prof. Inna Slutsky and doctoral students Daniel Zarhin and Refaela Atsmon from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University.

According to Prof. Inna Slutsky, innovative imaging technologies developed in recent years have revealed that amyloid deposits, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease pathology, are formed in patients’ brains as early as 10-20 years before the onset of typical symptoms such as memory impairment and cognitive decline. Unfortunately, most efforts to treat Alzheimer’s disease have failed. She believes that if we could detect the disease at the pre-symptomatic stage, and keep it in a dormant phase for many years, this would be a tremendous achievement in the field. Identifying a signature of aberrant brain activity in the pre-symptomatic stage of Alzheimer’s and understanding the mechanisms underlying its development she says may be a key to effective treatment.

Additional participants in the study include: Dr. Antonella Ruggiero, Halit Baeloha, Shiri Shoob, Oded Scharf, Leore Heim, Nadav Buchbinder, Ortal Shinikamin, Dr. Ilana Shapira, Dr. Boaz Styr, and Dr. Gabriella Braun, all from Prof. Slutsky’s laboratory. Collaborations with the laboratory teams of Prof. Yaniv Ziv of the Weizmann Institute, and Prof. Yuval Nir of TAU were essential for the project. Prof. Tamar Geiger, Dr. Michal Harel, and Dr. Anton Sheinin of Tel Aviv University, as well as researchers from Japan, also contributed to the study.

The researchers used animal models for Alzheimer’s, focusing on the hippocampal region of the brain, which is known to be impaired in Alzheimer’s patients. At first, they measured cell activity in the hippocampus when the model animal was awake and active. For this, they used advanced methods that measure brain activity at a resolution of single neurons.

High Neuronal Activity – Also During Sleep

“It is known that neuronal activity of the hippocampus decreases during sleep in healthy animals,” explains Refaela Atsmon. However, when she examined model animals in early stages of Alzheimer’s, she found that their hippocampal activity remained high even during sleep. This is due to a failure in the physiological regulation, which she says has never before been observed in the context of Alzheimer’s disease.

Daniel Zarhin found similar dysregulation in model animals under anesthesia: neuronal activity did not decline, the neurons operated in a manner that was too synchronized, and a pathological electrical pattern was formed, similar to ‘quiet’ seizures in epileptic patients.

The researchers found that brain states that block responses to the environment – such as sleep and anesthesia – expose abnormal activity which remains hidden when the animal is awake, and this happens before the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are observed.

Prof. Slutsky’s explains that even though this abnormal activity can be detected during sleep, it is much more frequent under anesthesia. Therefore, she says, it would be important to test whether short anesthesia can be used for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Defective Stabilizing Mechanisms

The researchers proceeded to ask what causes the abnormality. To this end, they relied on findings from previous studies from Prof. Slutsky’s laboratory and other researchers on homeostasis of neural networks: each neural circuit has a set point of activity, maintained by numerous stabilizing mechanisms. These mechanisms are activated when the balance is disturbed, restoring neuronal activity to its original set point.

Is a disruption of these mechanisms the main cause of deviant brain activity during sleep and anesthesia in Alzheimer’s disease animal models? To test this, Dr. Antonella Ruggiero examined the effect of various anesthetics on neurons grown on a chip. She found that they lower the set point of neuronal activity. While in healthy neural networks this activity remained low over time, in neural networks expressing genetic Alzheimer’s mutations, the lowered set point recovered quickly, despite the presence of anesthetics.

The researchers now sought to examine a potential drug for the impaired regulatory mechanism. According to Prof. Slutsky, the instability in neuronal activity found in the study is known from epilepsy. In a previous study Prof. Slutsky’s team discovered that an existing drug for multiple sclerosis may help epilepsy patients by activating a homeostatic mechanism that lowers the set point of neural activity. Doctoral student Shiri Shoob examined the effect of the drug on hippocampal activity in the animal model for Alzheimer’s and found that also in this case the drug stabilizes activity and reduces pathological activity observed during anesthesia.

Proceeding Towards Clinical Trials

“The results of our study may help early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, and even provide a solution for instability of neuronal activity in Alzheimer’s disease,” says Prof. Slutsky. “Firstly, we discovered that anesthesia and sleep states expose pathological brain activity in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, before the onset of cognitive decline. We also proposed the cause of the pathological activity – failure of a very basic homeostatic mechanism that stabilizes electrical activity in brain circuits. Lastly, we showed that a known medication for multiple sclerosis suppresses this type of anesthesia-induced aberrant brain activity,” she concludes.

The researchers now plan to collaborate with medical centers in Israel and worldwide to test whether the mechanisms discovered in animal models can also be identified in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. For this purpose, they propose to incorporate EEG monitoring into surgical procedures, to measure brain activity of patients under anesthesia. They hope that their findings will promote early diagnosis and drug development for the most common form of late-onset dementia.

Featured image: The Research Team (from left to right): Prof. Inna Slutsky, Daniel Zarhin and Refaela Atsmon (Photo: Dr. Tal Laviv)

Finding the Optimal Location for the Tribal Bonfire

Written by AUFTAU on 9 February 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

In a first-of-its kind study, the researchers developed a software-based smoke dispersal simulation model and applied it to a known prehistoric site. They discovered that the early humans who occupied the cave had placed their hearth at the optimal location – enabling maximum utilization of the fire for their activities and needs while exposing them to a minimal amount of smoke. The groundbreaking study provides evidence for high cognitive abilities in early humans who lived 170,000 years ago.

The study was led by PhD student Yafit Kedar, and Prof. Ran Barkai from the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at The Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, together with Dr. Gil Kedar. The paper was published in Scientific Reports.

In the Back of the Cave? Or towards the front?

The use of fire by early humans has been widely debated by researchers for many years, regarding questions such as: At what point in their evolution did humans learn how to control fire and ignite it at will? When did they begin to use it on a daily basis? Did they use the inner space of the cave efficiently in relation to the fire? While all researchers agree that modern humans were capable of all these things, the dispute continues about the skills and abilities of earlier types of humans. One focal issue in the debate is the location of hearths in caves occupied by early humans for long periods of time.

“Multilayered hearths have been found in many caves, indicating that fires had been lit at the same spot over many years,” says Yafit Kedar. “In previous studies, using a software-based model of air circulation in caves, along with a simulator of smoke dispersal in a closed space, we found that the optimal location for minimal smoke exposure in the winter was at the back of the cave. The least favorable location was the cave’s entrance.”

Humans Need Balance

In the current study, the researchers applied their smoke dispersal model to an extensively studied prehistoric site – the Lazaret Cave in southeastern France, inhabited by early humans around 170-150 thousand years ago. “According to our model, based on previous studies, placing the hearth at the back of the cave would have reduced smoke density to a minimum, allowing the smoke to circulate out of the cave right next to the ceiling,” explains Kedar. “However, in the archaeological layers we examined, the hearth was located at the center of the cave.”

The team tried to understand why the occupants had chosen this spot, and whether smoke dispersal had been a significant consideration in the cave’s spatial division into activity areas. The researchers performed a range of smoke dispersal simulations for 16 hypothetical hearth locations inside the 290sqm cave. To understand the health implications of smoke exposure, measurements were compared with the average smoke exposure recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Excavations at the Lazaret Cave, France (photo: De Lumley, M. A. néandertalisation (pp. 664-p). CNRS éditions. (2018Les restes humains fossiles de la grotte du Lazaret. Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. Des Homo erectus européens évolués en voie de)

The researchers found that the average smoke density, based on measuring the number of particles per spatial unit, is in fact minimal when the hearth is located at the back of the cave – just as their model had predicted. However, Yafit Kedar and Dr. Gil Kedar explain that they also discovered that “In this situation, the area with low smoke density, most suitable for prolonged activity, is relatively distant from the hearth itself. Early humans needed a balance – a hearth close to which they could work, cook, eat, sleep, get together, warm themselves, etc. while exposed to a minimum amount of smoke. Ultimately, when all needs are taken into consideration – daily activities vs. the damages of smoke exposure – the occupants placed their hearth at the optimal spot in the cave.”

Our Ancestors Nailed It

The study identified a 25sqm area in the cave which would be optimal for locating the hearth in order to enjoy its benefits while avoiding too much exposure to smoke. Astonishingly, in the several strata examined in this study, the early humans actually did place their hearth within this area.

“Our study shows that early humans were able, with no sensors or simulators, to choose the perfect location for their hearth and manage the cave’s space as early as 170,000 years ago – long before the advent of modern humans in Europe. This ability reflects ingenuity, experience, and planned action, as well as awareness of the health damage caused by smoke exposure. In addition, the simulation model we developed can assist archaeologists excavating new sites, enabling them to look for hearths and activity areas at their optimal locations,” concludes Prof. Barkai.

In upcoming studies, the researchers intend to use their model to investigate the influence of different fuels on smoke dispersal, use of the cave with an active hearth at different times of year, use of several hearths simultaneously, and more.

TAU Breakthrough Offers New Hope to Help People With Paralysis Walk Again

Written by AUFTAU on 8 February 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Paralysis from spinal injury has long remained untreatable. Could scientific developments get people affected on their feet again sooner than imagined? In a worldwide first, Tel Aviv University researchers have engineered 3D human spinal cord tissues and implanted them in a lab model with long-term chronic paralysis, demonstrating high rates of success in restoring walking abilities. Now, the researchers are preparing for the next stage of the study, clinical trials in human patients. They hope that within a few years the engineered tissues will be implanted in paralyzed individuals enabling them to stand up and walk again.

How to Reverse Spinal Injury?

“Our technology is based on taking a small biopsy of belly fat tissue from the patient,” explains Prof. Tal Dvir who’s research team led the study. “This tissue, like all tissues in our body, consists of cells together with an extracellular matrix comprising substances like collagens and sugars. After separating the cells from the extracellular matrix we used genetic engineering to reprogram the cells, reverting them to a state that resembles embryonic stem cells – namely cells capable of becoming any type of cell in the body.”

Petri dish with tissue samples (Photo: Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology)

From the extracellular matrix the researchers produced a personalized hydrogel, that would evoke no immune response or rejection after implantation. They then encapsulated the stem cells in the hydrogel, and in a process that mimics the embryonic development of the spinal cord, turned the cells into 3D implants of neuronal networks containing motor neurons.

Neural net (Photo: Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology)

The human spinal cord implants were then implanted in two different groups of lab models: those who had only recently been paralyzed (the acute model) and those who had been paralyzed for a long time (the chronic model) – equivalent to one year in human terms. Following the implantation, 100% of the lab models with acute paralysis and 80% of those with chronic paralysis regained their ability to walk.

The groundbreaking study was led by Prof. Tal Dvir’s research team at the Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology, The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tel Aviv University. The team at Prof. Dvir’s lab includes PhD student Lior Wertheim, Dr. Reuven Edri, and Dr. Yona Goldshmit. Other contributors included Prof. Irit Gat-Viks from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, Prof. Yaniv Assaf from the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and Dr. Angela Ruban from The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, all at Tel Aviv University. The results of the study were published in the prestigious scientific journal Advanced Science.

Visualization of the next stage of the research – human spinal cord implants for treating paralysis (Photo: Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology)

Getting Patients Suffering from Paralysis Back on Their Feet

Encouragingly, the model animals underwent a rapid rehabilitation process, at the end of which they could walk quite well. This is the first instance in the world in which implanted engineered human tissues have generated recovery in an animal model for long-term chronic paralysis – which is the most relevant model for paralysis treatments in humans.

“Our goal is to produce personalized spinal cord implants for every paralyzed person, enabling regeneration of the damaged tissue with no risk of rejection,” says Prof. Dvir.

Based on the revolutionary organ engineering technology developed at Prof. Dvir’s lab, he teamed up with industry partners to establish Matricelf (matricelf.com) in 2019. The company applies Prof. Dvir’s approach in the aims of making spinal cord implant treatments commercially available for persons suffering from paralysis.

Prof. Dvir, head of Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology, concludes: “We hope to reach the stage of clinical trials in humans within the next few years, and ultimately get these patients back on their feet. The company’s preclinical program has already been discussed with the FDA. Since we are proposing an advanced technology in regenerative medicine, and since at present there is no alternative for paralyzed patients, we have good reason to expect relatively rapid approval of our technology.”

The research team (from left to right): Dr. Yona Goldshmit, Prof. Tal Dvir and Lior Wertheim (Photo: Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology)

And Let There Be Light

Written by AUFTAU on 6 February 2022. Posted in Magazine, Newsroom.

Efforts by TAU’s Clinical Law Program will help keep electricity running for those who are struggling to pay utility bills.

The recent drop in temperature in Israel has led to a significant increase in electricity consumption. But what about those who simply cannot afford basic necessities?

A petition jointly filed by Tel Aviv University’s Human Rights Clinic at The Buchmann Faculty of Law will help keep the electricity on for some of Israel’s most underprivileged populations. In response to the appeal, Israel’s High Court ruled that electricity must not be cut off for citizens who prove a difficult economic or medical condition, effective immediately. We spoke with attorney Adi Nir Binyamini from TAU’s Human Rights Clinic, one of the lawyers who handled the case.

Electricity – A Fundamental Right?

In a precedent-setting decision, the High Court ruled on January 20 that access to electricity should be considered a fundamental right and that the Electricity Authority must, within six months, amend the criteria for power outages as a means of collecting debt. Meanwhile, the new ruling assists electricity consumers who find themselves in serious economic or medical distress, and ensure that they will not be left in the dark or the cold and without other basic needs.

The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in collaboration with the Human Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University, Physicians for Human Rights and the Israel Union of Social Workers against the Electricity Authority, the Israel Electric Corp. and Energy Minister. It was filed on behalf of several poor families whose electricity had been cut off for non-payment.

The High Court of Justice ruled that, until the Electricity Authority establishes appropriate criteria and procedures (within six months from the time of the ruling), it must enable consumers facing power cuts from lack of payment to demonstrate whether they are suffering financial or health problems that justify their continued access to electric power. The court said the Electricity Authority must conduct a hearing prior to cutting a customer’s power. It gave the national electricity provider six months to revise its procedures and ordered it to pay the petitioners 40,000 NIS ($12,800) in expenses, to be divided among them. “This is a dramatic change from the previous situation, when it was possible to cut off people’s electricity access due to the accumulation of debt, except for very few exceptions,” explains Att. Nir Binyamini.

From the second hearing in Higher Court, on October 28, 2021 (from left to right): Gil Gan Mor (ACRI), Hicham Chabaita and Att. Adi Nir Binyamini from TAU’s Human Rights Clinic and Att. Mascit Bendel (ACRI)

The Beginning of a New Era

Binyamini, who has dealt with electricity litigation for several years now, says, “I feel personal and professional satisfaction that on the coldest day of the year, when people were left without heating, the High Court accepted our position and ruled not to cut off people’s electricity due to poverty and that debt must instead be collected by more moderate means.”

When asked how the Clinic got involved with the project, Binyamini explains that TAU’s Humans Rights Clinic was previously part of a legal battle over water disconnections for consumers unable to pay their water bill. “After that was successfully completed, we took on the subject of electricity and have been working on it continuously for the past eight years. The Clinic represented and handled the two petitions that were submitted to the Israeli High Court, and over the years we have dealt with hundreds of individual cases of people being cut off from electricity. We have also been guiding and assisting social workers with individual cases.”

She adds that a large number of students from the Clinic have worked on the case over the years, and stresses that such practical experience is an extremely valuable component of legal education.

Upon the court’s ruling, Binyamini along with Att. Maskit Bendel of the ACRI issued a statement, saying: “We hope that the ruling, which opened with the words ‘and let there be light,’ heralds the beginning of new era when it comes to protecting weak populations from having their electricity cut off.”

Attorney-at-law Adi Nir Binyamini from Tel Aviv University’s Human Rights Clinic (photo: Tomer Jacobson)

More than 16,000 participants on TAU’s Open Day 2022

Written by AUFTAU on 3 February 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

A New Generation of TAU-Germany Ties

Written by AUFTAU on 30 January 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Who knew that there were so many Germany-related projects going on here at TAU?

Academic collaboration between Tel Aviv University and Germany is growing, as part of TAU’s wider efforts to develop research ties with the world’s leading institutions, attract outstanding students from across the globe, and provide Israeli students with the tools they need to prosper in the globalized era in which we live.

TAU has more than fifty active agreements with German institutions, which makes the country our largest partner in Europe, third in the world only after the US and China. An average of 200 German students study at TAU annually, while another 100 participate in exchange programs. We sat down with Maureen Meyer Adiri, Director of TAU International, to learn some more about Tel Aviv University’s current collaborations with German institutions.

Bilateral Student Opportunities

Meyer Adiri tells us that we have German students in all departments of TAU – some come for a single exchange semester, some for a complete undergraduate degree, others study for their masters and still others come to do advanced research in one of our labs. And the exchange goes both ways – she explains that Israeli students typically choose to study in Germany because of the rich offerings in English, multiple scholarship opportunities, the country’s high level of education in general – and the renowned universities with which TAU partners.

Many German students choose to study at TAU through the Erasmus agreement. Also, The German Friendship Fund was established during Germany Week by the German Friends of Tel Aviv University and is intended to support German students who wish to study here.

TAU also teaches a number of online courses jointly with German professors, specifically in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Law and Engineering, and this is a growing trend. In addition, there are lots of other types of collaborations between TAU and German faculty. An example includes a recent strong partnership project between Israel and Germany, in which students from TAU’s Graduate Program in Technology & Learning at The Jaime and Joan Constantiner School of Education successfully concluded a unique multilingual, multicultural academic online course in the field of learning technologies. The project was a result of a research collaboration between TAU’s Advanced Learning and Technology Research Lab led by Dr. Anat Cohen, The University of Kassel in Germany, and the Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts in Tel Aviv.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, along with other societal challenges, have made global cooperation more important than ever. This unique collaboration brings together students from different backgrounds to create online academic collaboration as a booster for international partnerships in research, schools, and workplaces”, says Guy Cohen, a TAU research student who led the course together with Dr. Anat Cohen.

Recent Research Collaborations

Frankfurt and Tel Aviv are twin cities, and a strategic partnership has existed between Tel Aviv University and Goethe University Frankfurt since 1984. During the “Germany Week”, the two universities signed an agreement to establish a joint center for interfaith studies, The Center for the Study of Religious and Interreligious Dynamics, will become the first German-Israeli research institute of its kind.

In the near future, The German – Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) will partner with TAU and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (with which TAU already has joint calls for proposals and funds joint research projects), to run a scientific workshop for early career Israeli and German researchers on the interface of AI and society. “I believe we’ll see a growth in joint research projects in the years to come,” says Meyer Adiri.

From the signing ceremony to establish a joint center for interfaith studies (from left to right): Prof. Menachem Fisch, Prof. Milette Shamir, TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat, German Ambassador Susanne Wasum-Rainer & Prof. Youval Rotman.

Germany Week

In celebration of the growing collaboration between TAU and Germany, the University recently celebrated “Germany Week” on campus. TAU International and the Student Union of Tel Aviv University organized a range of academic and social events celebrating German culture and academia, all of which were well attended and catered to both students and faculty members. Solid engagement of German TAU students ensured the cultural authenticity of German-themed events, which included a tour in the footsteps of German Jewry at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People; a discussion on themes in modern German literature; a Christmas market which was opened at the center of the TAU campus in collaboration with the German embassy in Israel, and much more.

“Germany Week by far exceeded our expectations from all perspectives”, says Meyer Adiri. “It contributed a lot to the awareness on campus about opportunities and collaborations that we have with our German partners, and it created an avenue for Israeli students to meet with our German students and to learn from them, have fun and party with them and to engage.” Following the event, many students have contacted TAU International, eager to assist with activities furthering internationalization. “We very much welcome students and faculty to take part in reaching out with ideas and to be involved in the next international events,” says Meyer Adiri.

German exchange students help organize and enjoyed a German-styled Christmas Market on TAU campus

Germany Week kicked off what will be a series of international events, each of which will focus on the culture of a different country with which our university has strong collaborations, or from where we have many incoming students. In the case of Germany, both criteria hold.

The purpose of the International Week series is to further internationalization at Tel Aviv University. Curious minds may wonder why Germany was the first country to feature in the International Weeks series? Meyer Adiri explains that the order of the countries was decided according to the timing of significant cultural events taking place in those countries and to celebrate that event on campus. According to this logic, Germany was celebrated in December 2021 to coincide with the country’s legendary Christmas Market; “Brazil Week” will take place between 20-24 February this year, during the country’s famous Carnival festival; “India Week during the Holi Festival; “Mexico Week” during the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration and “USA Week” during Fourth of July.

Stay posted for Brazil Week and get ready to samba!

TAU International’s Series of “International Weeks”

Annual Review – Positive Trends in Fighting Antisemitism and Radicalization around the World

Written by AUFTAU on 28 January 2022. Posted in Newsroom, Press release.

The Holocaust exhibit in the Crossroads Of Civilizations Museum (CCM). Photo credit: Ofir Winter of the Kantor Center.

The Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University presents for the 1^st time

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022

The Report was presented to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Legal precedents in the battle against antisemitism l Enhanced resources to protect Jewish communities l Expanded restoration of Jewish cemeteries l Top sports teams join the battle against antisemitism l The Arab World’s first Holocaust memorial exhibition |

The Holocaust exhibit in the Crossroads Of Civilizations Museum (CCM). Photo credit: Ofir Winter of the Kantor Center.

Highlights from the Report include:

The legal arena: A series of encouraging precedents in fighting antisemitism were set during 2021, restraining the so far almost unrestricted dissemination of hate propaganda. One important example was the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights against a Bulgarian MP who had disseminated antisemitic tropes in his books.
The political and legislative arena: Governments around the world increased the resources allocated to protecting Jewish communities, appointed special envoys for fighting antisemitism, and adopted the Working Definition of Antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
The cultural arena: A rising trend of restoring Jewish cemeteries was observed in Eastern Europe, while in Western Europe and North America leading sports associations and teams raised the banner of the fight against antisemitism.
The Middle Eastern arena: The Holocaust was meaningfully addressed for the first time by a public museum in an Arab country (the UAE). Other encouraging steps were also introduced by the governments of the UAE and Bahrain.

The Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University presented its inaugural report on Positive Trends in Fighting Antisemitism and Radicalization around the World, including recommendations for policies and activities that can enhance these trends. The Report was presented today, Thursday, to President of Israel Isaac Herzog at a special ceremony held at the President’s official residence in Jerusalem. The ceremony was held in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27 – the day on which the Auschwitz death camp was liberated in 1945.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog: “The global antisemitism crisis is escalating, but the international fight against it is also intensifying. We are witnessing many initiatives for combating antisemitism around the world, and we must encourage and foster these positive trends. Strengthening the light is just as important as fighting darkness. I thank the Kantor Center for its dedicated research and faithful work in monitoring antisemitism worldwide.”

Prof. Uriya Shavit, Head of the Kantor Center, Entin Faculty of Humanities at TAU: “Discourse on antisemitism and radicalization usually focuses on troubling negative trends. We decided that a positive report, describing encouraging developments and activities, should also be published – for three reasons: expressing appreciation for those already active; impelling more governments and organizations worldwide to initiate similar activities; and promoting a discussion on concrete proposals for improving existing programs.”

The Positive Trends Report was authored by a team of seven leading TAU experts from various fields, with policy recommendations formulated in a series of brainstorming sessions. Participants include: Dr. Inna Shtasker (restoration of Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe); Dr. Ofir Winter and Dr. Giovanni Quer (encouraging developments in the Gulf); Prof. Dina Porat (political and legislative developments); Dr. Tomer Fadlon (sports); advocate Talia Naamat (legal developments).

Every chapter in the report ends with a series of recommendations for organizations and governments aiming to enhance their fight against antisemitism. Recommendations include: establishing a website that provides comprehensive information and guidance on restoration of Jewish cemeteries in Europe; promoting the teaching of the Holocaust in the Arab world, (dissociated from the context of current events); establishing mechanisms for monitoring governments’ implementation of their pledges to fight antisemitism; and encouraging sports clubs in Eastern Europe to join programs that combat religious intolerance.

Positive trends and events presented in the report

The legal arena

Encouraging trends regarding the fight against antisemitism were observed in courts of law and legislative institutions worldwide.

In February 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Bulgarian MP Volen Siderov, founder of the far-right political party ATAKA, who had expressed antisemitic views in his books, published about 20 years ago.
Several national courts across Europe also ruled in similar contexts that some forms of hate speech are so virulent that they violate the rights of all persons belonging to the maligned group.
The European Commission expanded the ‘EU Crimes’ list to include hate speech and hate crimes.
The EU launched its ‘Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life,’ which urges member states to prosecute antisemitic hate speech and hate crimes.
The Ukrainian Parliament passed the Prevention and Counteraction to Antisemitism Law in September 2021. The law defines antisemitism in accordance with the IHRA definition and states that persons guilty of violating the law would be subject to punishments under the existing hate crimes law.
Several states across the U.S. passed laws to counter recent waves of antisemitism: New York prohibited displaying or selling hate symbols (such as swastikas) on public property; California introduced a hate crimes statute requiring local hate crime policies to recognize religious bias and discrimination bias and law enforcement officers to undergo educational training on hate crimes.

Sports

Racism and antisemitism are rife among sports fans all over the world, but now major sports organizations, including leading teams, have decided to combat the vile phenomenon. The fight against antisemitism in sports is conducted at all levels—from the EU and national associations through the teams, all the way to the fans themselves.

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January 2021), the English Football Association (FA) pledged to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition for antisemitism, and football teams in England followed suit.
The illustrious Chelsea Football Club launched a new website entitled ‘Say No to Antisemitism,’ marking a concerted effort to clean its own house.
The Austrian Football Association adopted the IHRA definition for antisemitism.
Two major European football clubs, the German Borussia Dortmund and the Dutch Feyenoord Rotterdam, partnered with the Anne Frank House to develop guidelines for tackling antisemitism in football, as part of an educational program against antisemitism advanced in collaboration with the fans under the title ‘Changing the Chants’.
The EU Commission presented a strategy for uprooting antisemitism in sports, with a focus on football.
The ‘Global Conference on Football’s Role in Combating Antisemitism’ was held in Vienna.
In the U.S. the professional career of NBA player Meyers Leonard ended after his antisemitic slurs during a video game were widely shared on social media. His team, Miami Heat, terminated his contract and he was fined $50,000.
In June 2021, Duxbury high school in Massachusetts fired its head football coach Dave Maimron for using antisemitic slurs.

Restoration of Jewish cemeteries.

The leading project: Restoration of the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery, established in 1806, with the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with local rabbis and the Cultural Heritage Foundation.
In the city of Sosnowiec, Poland, a non-Jewish resident named Sławek Pastuszka found the funds to mow the grass at the rundown Jewish cemetery. High school students from nearby Katowice, led by history teacher Sławomir Witkowski, promised to care for the cemetery in the future.
Vladimir Spanik, a 73-year-old member of the village council of Vinodol, Slovakia, spearheaded the restoration of the village’s abandoned Jewish cemetery, in order to instill cross-racial solidarity in the young people of his community. He recruited for the project several boys from the Roma community, which had also suffered during the Holocaust.

In the small Polish city of Cieszyn, a museum employee, with the help of a teacher at the Evangelical Society School, recruited students for a Jewish cemetery restoration project, as a concrete way to engage with local history and develop intercultural understanding.
In Kielce, a city in south-central Poland, high school students commemorated the 75^th anniversary of a post-WWII anti-Jewish pogrom by cleaning the local Jewish cemetery.
In the Ukrainian town of Rohatyn a special Jewish heritage project brings together non-Jewish residents and volunteers from across the globe to restore the local Jewish cemetery and research the history of Jews in the region

Images: Ukrainian Jewish cemeteries. Photo credit: Rohatyn Jewish Heritage(RJH).

In the village of Chesnyky in Ukraine the local non-Jewish Rosolovska family established a memorial for local Holocaust victims with the support of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine and the Jewish community of Ivano-Frankivsk.
The Cultural Heritage Foundation in Poland created a website that provides guidelines for restoring Jewish cemeteries in accordance with the Jewish Halacha.
Marla Osborn, a U.S. citizen whose grandmother was born in Ukraine, created an online guide for Jewish Cemetery Preservation in Western Ukraine.

Governments and legislation

Many countries and organizations in the West use a range of tools to combat antisemitism: allocating funds for protecting Jewish communities and relevant training programs; appointing special envoys for fighting antisemitism; advancing legislation against manifestations of antisemitism; organizing international conferences; issuing public declarations; and adopting the IHRA’s Working Definition of Antisemitism.

Since 2015, and especially over the last two years, more than 800 bodies worldwide have adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Several European countries have appointed special Envoys – officials tasked with monitoring antisemitism, raising public awareness, and promoting legislation to tackle this abhorrent phenomenon.
In October 2021, the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism convened in Malmö, Sweden, attended by dozens of delegations and leaders from around the world, who answered the call of Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loeven.
At the Malmö Conference the EU launched its Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life. Considered the first-ever concrete action against antisemitism backed formally by an international organization, the program aims to prevent all forms of antisemitism, protect and foster Jewish life in Europe, and promote research and commemoration of the Holocaust.
The Canadian government, responding to a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents, launched an action plan – allocating five million dollars to protect Jewish institutions, cemeteries, and monuments, fund education programs, advance legislation and enforcement measures, and promote the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, among other initiatives.
Irwin Cotler, Canada’s former Minister of Justice who currently serves as the country’s special Envoy on Antisemitism, invited Jewish students who have experienced antisemitism on campus to tell their stories at an emergency conference.
In 2020, Austria published a comprehensive action plan for combating antisemitism and appointed its Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution to oversee the fight against antisemitism.
Pope Francis and Cardinal Kurt Koch, Head of the Vatican Committee for Relations with the Jewish people, issued various declarations strongly denouncing antisemitism and advocating close dialogue between Christians and Jews.
On his visit to Budapest in September 2021, Pope Francis spoke firmly against antisemitism.

The Gulf

Image: Ahmed Obeid Al Mansoori, Founder of Crossroads Of Civilizations Museum. Photo credit: Crossroads Of Civilizations Museum (CCM).

The UAE’s Jewish community is growing rapidly, and already numbers more than 1,000 members.
A Holocaust memorial exhibition entitled ‘We Remember’ – the first of its kind in the Arab world – was launched at the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai in May 2021, in the presence of the Israeli and German ambassadors to the UAE. A synagogue has been operating openly in Dubai since late 2018, and a Jewish community center was also inaugurated.
The first Jewish school will soon open in Dubai.
Abu Dhabi is building the Abrahamic Family House – a joint religious complex including a mosque, a church, and a synagogue of similar height and façade, differing only in their internal design to fit the needs of the different religions. The complex, symbolizing harmony alongside diversity among the three monotheistic faiths, will be completed during 2022.

Image: The Holocaust exhibit in the Crossroads Of Civilizations Museum (CCM). Photo credit: Ofir Winter of the Kantor Center.

Hotels in the UAE were instructed to provide kosher food to their Jewish and Israeli guests.
Citizens of the UAE and Israel celebrate Muslim and Jewish holidays together, including a joint meal marking both Lag BaOmer and Iftar (which closes every day of fasting during the month of Ramadan).
The House of Ten Commandments synagogue in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, was reopened in March 2021 following comprehensive restoration under the aegis of King ‘Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
In August 2021, the first celebration of Shabbat services since the late 1940s was held in Bahrain, attended by local public figures.
In September, the first Jewish wedding in half a century was celebrated in Bahrain

Ketogenic Diet Likely to Reduce Damage from Traumatic Brain Injuries

Written by AUFTAU on 25 January 2022. Posted in Newsroom.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and long-term disability in the developed world. It is estimated that every year over 10 million people worldwide suffer from traumatic brain injury as a result of head injuries caused by a hard object, a blow, an explosion, road accidents, sports injuries, etc. Such traumas can lead to physical, cognitive, behavioral and emotional damage and is also a risk factor for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

At this point, despite the high frequency of brain injuries, there is no proven effective treatment that can help those suffering from this injury.

A new international study piloted by the Tel Aviv University determines that a ketogenic diet may reduce the effects of brain damage after traumatic injury. The study indicates that the diet improves spatial memory and visual memory, lowers brain inflammation indices, causes less neuronal death and slows down the rate of cellular aging.

The study was led by Prof. Chaim (Chagi) Pick, Director of the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute and a member of the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and Ph.D. student Meirav Har-Even Kerzhner, a registered dietitian and brain researcher, both from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. The findings were published in Scientific Reports, a syndicate journal from the publishers of Nature.

What does a ketogenic diet consist of?

A ketogenic diet which involves changes in the consumption of common foods is based on high-fat percentages and aims to mimic a state of fasting. As part of the diet, the intake of foods that contain carbohydrates (e.g., bread, sugar, grains, legumes, snacks, pastries and even fruits) are significantly restricted and, at the expense of this restriction, high-fat products such as meat, fish, eggs, avocado, butter etc. – are eaten.

This is a diet that can be continued for extended periods of time. The diet causes an increased production of ketone bodies in the liver that are used to generate energy. These ketone bodies are transferred via the bloodstream to the brain providing optimal nourishment.

The diet has been used as a treatment in Israel and around the world for almost 100 years, among children with epilepsy, while in recent years, the ketogenic diet has become popular among those who want to lose weight. It is important to note that, due to the significant nutritional restrictions, it is necessary to consult with a professional such as a doctor or a registered dietitian.

Inspiring Hope

In the study, conducted on model animals, the researchers identified that the ketogenic diet greatly improves the patient’s brain function. For this purpose, the researchers used advanced methods that included, among other things, behavioral-cognitive tests, biochemical tests and immunohistochemical cell staining (a technique in biology for the detection and placement of proteins in a cross section of tissue). The mechanism by which a ketogenic diet succeeds in benefiting the results of brain damage has not yet been fully revealed, but studies show that it has an antioxidant and metabolic effect on mitochondria (essential organelles in the cell, the its primary function of which is energy production and respiration), lowers free radical production and raises ATP (a major molecule in cellular biochemical channels).

“The findings were unequivocal and showed that the ketogenic diet improves spatial memory and visual memory, lowers indices of inflammation in the brain and in addition, also slows the rate of cellular aging,” says Prof. Pick. “These results may open the door to further research that will inspire hope for those suffering from traumatic brain injuries, and their family members.”

Featured image: Prof. Chaim Pick and Ph.D. student Meirav Har-Even Kerzhne

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