Israel Active

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.

I reported previously on Israeli startup Nobio (previously named Nanolock) and its revolutionary nano-polymer that causes bacteria to die immediately on contact. Nobio has just raised $3.6 million of funds to help it obtain FDA approval. See also new video.

I reported previously on Israeli biotech NewStem which is developing a stem cell platform to test cancer treatments in the lab before potentially wasting them on patients. NewStem has just received $4 million of funds from an unlikely source – Hollywood Media Corp.

British philanthropist David Dangoor writes that Israel is at the forefront of development of personalized medical innovations that can solve prohibitive and largely ineffective medical treatments being used in the UK and elsewhere.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have used a combination of 3 cancer treatments to prevent lung cancer tumors from re-occurring. In laboratory tests, when Tagrisso, Erbitux and Herceptin were used together they prevented the cancer from developing resistance to single treatments.

Israel’s Save Child’s Heart team is checking the hearts of 70 children at Kigali Teaching Hospital, Rwanda.  The 20 most severe cases will be immediately transferred to Israel with all costs covered.

Israeli biotech Redhill announced positive results of the Phase 3 trial for RB-104 in treating Crohn’s disease which affects 1.5 million people worldwide.

I reported previously on Israel’s Nucleix and its innovative blood and urine tests for early-stage cancer diagnostics. Nucleix has just received a grant of 2.5 million Euros from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program – its second grant in two years.