Israel Active

In the latest Nefesh b’Nefesh flight there were 27 US and Canadian medical professionals (doctors, nurses, paramedics etc.) who want to get to work as soon as possible. Meanwhile, top liver transplant surgeon Daniel Azoulay has left Paris to join the staff of Sheba Medical Center.

Israeli gut microbiome analysis startup DayTwo Ltd. has partnered with Clalit, one of Israel’s four health care providers. Clalit will offer its members DNA analysis of their gut microbiome and provide personalized nutritional insights based on DayTwo’s technology.

Israeli startup Metaflow’s Lumen is a respiratory metabolism tracking device that determines whether you are burning fat or carbohydrates. An AI-based app then provides nutrition and fitness advice based on the test's results and personal goals. Lumen has raised $1.4 million on Indiegogo.

Doctors at Baruch Padeh Medical Center near Tiberias removed a 2-inch long (5cm) nail from the small intestine of an 8-year-old Arab girl. She had been using her teeth to pull the nail out of a plastic bottle and when it emerged, she accidentally swallowed it.

Tel Aviv University scientists have discovered an enzyme that controls blood glutamate levels and could help patients recover from spinal injuries if administered soon after an accident. Reducing the release of glutamate after a trauma enabled lesions at the injury site to regenerate.

Israeli startup Amai Proteins has synthesized the protein thaumatin, found naturally in the Nigerian katemfe plant, which acts as a sweetener but does not raise blood sugar or insulin levels. Amai have conducted initial test tastings and have raised NIS 3 million of funding.

I reported previously ) on Israel’s work to combat Leishmaniasis - a deadly parasitic disease common in the Middle East. Now Professor Shulamit Michaeli, at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, is working to commercialize a compound that in 20 minutes kills two types of Leishmania parasites.

Israeli scientists have discovered that both positive and negative memories are stored in genes within areas of the brain that can be retrieved even post-mortem. The findings could one day help treat patients with psychiatric disorders such as OCD, schizophrenia and trauma.

I reported previously about Israeli startup CartiHeal which invented the Agili-C knee implant that uses coral-derived material to repair damaged knee cartilage. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital have just performed the first Israeli Agili-C surgery.

Jacob A’s lower leg was amputated after a work accident.  But his foot was fine, so in Israel’s first “rotationplasty” operation, doctors at Haifa’s Rambam hospital turned it upside down and made the ankle joint into a knee joint.  Once Jacob has a prosthetic fitted, he should be able to walk normally.