Israel Active

Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have isolated rare replicating cells from the livers of mice. This may eventually help develop treatments to increase the cells that produce insulin for diabetics and reduce cell proliferation in cancerous tumours.

(Thanks to NoCamels) Here again are the details of the stem cell transplants performed by Israeli doctors using PLX stem cells from Israeli biotech Pluristem. Two of the patients were cured completely and one survived for four months until she contracted an infection in her Romanian home.

Last week it was curing bacterial lung infections and preventing implant rejection. Kamada’s latest trial of its Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) protein shows that it can halt the progression of juvenile diabetes. Remember, AAT is the active ingredient in Kamada’s Glassia , used to treat emphysema.

Israel’s Atox Bio announced the success of Phase Iia clinical trials of its AB103 treatment of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections (NSTI). NSTIs are life-threatening bacterial infections with significant morbidity and high mortality rate.

Israeli Medical Device Innovations on display at Medica 2012 in Dusseldorf included HemaClear's innovative tourniquet technology, which has now been put to use in more than 500,000 operations.

More media publicity (this time in the UK) for Technion’s breakthrough technology that uses stem cells from a patient’s own skin to regenerate damaged heart muscle tissue.

Hebrew University researchers have proved that we are able to solve maths problems and read phrases unconsciously. These results bring us closer to solving one of the biggest scientific mysteries of the 21st century: What are the functions of human consciousness?

(Thanks to Israel21c) A study initiated by Israeli brain science researcher and Bar Ilan University professor, Michal Ben-Shachar has identified complex changes in brain connections, as children learn how to read.

Dr Sarit Sivan, from Israel’s Technion, won the prize in the 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship' category. She has developed an innovative treatment for lower back pain resulting from the degeneration of discs in the spinal column.

Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem performed the first operation of its kind on liver cancer sufferer Louis Saznovsky. ‘Irreversible electroporation’ – a direct flow of high-voltage electrical currents – was applied to the malignant tumour, leaving only a few scars where the tumour once was. Since Hadassah’s first use of the new method, more than 200 such operations have been performed worldwide.