Israel Active

The British and Israeli governments will jointly fund five major research projects in regenerative medicine – the process of replacing or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function in diseased ones.

Doctors at Schneider Children’s medical centre noticed 10 children and infants from four families in a single Arab village, all with liver abnormalities. The discovery of the mutant gene could lead to a treatment for fatty liver disease and screening for the gene.

Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy are at risk of infection due to reduced white blood cell counts. Teva’s Tbo-filgrastim stimulates the bone marrow to produce white bloods cells. The US Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for commercial production.

(Thanks to Israel21c) To mark World Alzheimer’s Month, here is a great summary of all the main brain science, medication and memory enhancement innovations that Israeli scientists have contributed to fighting this devastating and fatal condition.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have discovered how the brain controls bone development. With previous research on protein interleukin-1 it explains why depression, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy often accompany osteoporosis and has huge potential for new therapies.

(Thanks to Israel21c) IsraAID, the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, has been training Japanese students from the Tohoku earthquake region. The leadership program empowers youth from Tohoku to take responsibility for their future as individuals and as a community.

The Tel Aviv branch of Citibank made the first day of school much easier for Ethiopian-Israeli students, by donating 200 backpacks and school supplies. They were distributed to the students by the organisation Ethiopian National Project (ENP).

Doctors at Beersheba’s Soroka hospital saved the life of a 50-year-old Russian with a ruptured aorta who was flown from Moscow for highly complex surgery. A day later he was disconnected from most of the devices except for his iPod on which he was watching films.

After seven years’ research, Israeli scientists have discovered a defective protein responsible for the rare condition known as SOFT that causes abnormal growth in some people. The discovery aids pre-natal testing and knowledge of how skin and bone develop and interact during tissue development.

Researchers at Israel’s Technion and Ben-Gurion University have engineered insulin-producing tissue, which lowers blood sugar levels when transplanted into animals.