Israel Active

(Thanks to NoCamels) A robotics professor and an aerospace engineering scientist at Israel’s Technion have decoded the movement of insects. Replaying the electronic signals makes the insects move. Known as Biomimicry, this can help produce small controlled vehicles.

(Thanks to Israel21c) Israel’s OrSense, announced successful clinical trial results for anaemia screening and haemorrhage detection using its NBM200 device. The non-invasive blood monitor measures haemoglobin levels in pregnant women.

(thanks to NoCamels) Israeli medical scientists from Ben Gurion Uni, Tel Aviv Uni and Israel’s Psychiatric Union have proved that magnetic currents from a deep brain stimulation (TMS) device significantly reduce the craving for cigarettes. Forty percent of the test subjects quit smoking.

It’s official – Ben Gurion University researchers have confirmed what readers of this newsletter will already know. People suffering with chronic pain experience an increase in pain intensity when exposed to media reports of terrorist attacks.

Dr. Dorothee Huchon of Tel Aviv University is part of an international team performing genetic analysis on the mole rat. They discovered that high levels of the neuroprotecting protein NRG-1 in adults correlated with a longer life span than several other rodent species.

Dr. Sarel Fleishman of the Weizmann Institute has developed a method of combining proteins to form brand new molecules. The method could be used to design a variety of new drugs, including those to combat diseases for which current drugs are ineffective.

(Thanks to NoCamels) ALS (Lou Gehrig’s) sufferer Rabbi Refael Shmulevitz had been given two to four years to live. He lost the ability to talk clearly and was confined to a wheelchair. Following Brainstorm‘s ‘NurOwn’ stem cell treatment he can now walk and talk again.

Psychiatric drugs can have damaging long-lasting effects on children with Anxiety disorder. Professor Yair Bar-Chaim, of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences recommends a computer program providing a therapy called Attention Bias Modification (ABM).

Israeli biotech Compugen announced that the protein CGEN-15022, discovered by the company, has the potential for treating liver, colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers through monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy.

Professor Eitan Reuveny of the Weizmann Institute has discovered the protein SARAF that prevents high levels of Calcium in the body. It has implications for sufferers of prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and dilated cardiomyopathy – all accompanied by abnormal calcium levels.