Israel Active

The tech-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University, plus Israeli-founded, Singapore-based Biosensorix, are developing $5 disease diagnosis kits that connect to a smartphone via its USB port. Instead of sending samples for lab tests, medical staff can get immediate blood test results and decide on a course of action.

Russian Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich has donated $20 million to Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to build a new medical center for nuclear medicine and research. Its cyclotron particle accelerator will use radioactive ion beams to pinpoint and kill cancer cells.

The UK has launched a new £5m fund to promote scientific collaboration and research between Israel and the UK into the aging process. The Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange (BIRAX) Aging fund will also promote research that into aging-related diseases.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have found from a study of over 1,000 Israelis that there is no genetic link to the good bacteria in your gut (microbiome). A person’s health (cholesterol, weight, blood glucose levels etc.) however, can be controlled by maintaining a healthy stomach.

I reported previously that Israel’s Micromedic Technologies had good results in an 18-patient trial of its CellDetect prostate cancer diagnosis solution. Latest tests on 59 samples were 80% successful – far exceeding the 25% for existing PSI tests.

I reported previously about Israel’s DreaMed Diabetes monitors for analyzing the data from Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs). DreaMed has just received the CE mark from the European Union for its Advisor Pro product.

Israel’s Zebra Medical Vision has received EU regulatory approval (i.e. the CE mark) for its new algorithm capable of detecting Intracranial hemorrhages (brain bleeds) from uploaded CT or MRI Scans.

I reported previously on the discovery by Professor Uri Nir, at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University of the FerT enzyme key to the energy source of cancer cells. Professor Nir has now developed a compound E260 which targets FerT and kills the tumors.

Israeli startup Novamed has developed the SensAheart device which tests blood for antibodies produced in a heart attack. Existing blood tests take up to six hours to get a result, but SensAheart takes only five minutes, lessens damage to heart tissue and saves lives.

Israeli scientists have developed half-a-dozen proteins to treat either inflammatory diseases (see and ) or neuro-degenerative diseases ( and ) But the 5-mer peptide, developed by Professor David Naor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, treats them all.