Israel Active

Israel’s MeMed (see previously) has completed a multi-year development of MeMed BV Flex. The test enables accurate differentiation between bacterial and viral infections in just 15 minutes using only a few drops of capillary blood from a finger prick.

Israel’s Silexion reported in April that its SIL-204 reduced pancreatic tumors. Latest studies show it also works on lung cancer. Its silencing of KRAS protein mutations achieved unprecedented inhibition rates of up to 97% in pancreatic cancer cells and nearly 90% in colorectal cancer cells.

Tel Aviv University and Israel’s Matricelf (see previously) are to perform the world’s first surgery, where a personalized engineered human spinal cord will be implanted in a paralyzed patient. The procedure aims to enable the patient to rise from a wheelchair and walk again.

The Good Medicine experience at Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion, featured Chief Joseph and Dr. Laralyn RiverWind, founders of FireKeepers International, a Native American Zionist charity. They gave messages of support and the gift of healing, from one indigenous people to another.

Schneider Children’s Medical Center has inaugurated its first therapeutic playroom, dedicated to the memory of murdered hostages Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. It offers hospitalized children a space for play, healing, and hope. It was created thanks to non-profit "Toys for Simcha."

Israel’s Scopio Labs (see previously) has now received the fourth FDA clearance for its groundbreaking, full-field digital hematology imaging platform. The new Decision Support System significantly helps labs analyze blood smears for anomalies.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a food allergy (milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, fish etc.,) disease that affects 1 in 2,500 people. Now a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that blocking the protein TSLP might stop the disease from developing. It may also help understand other allergic disorders.

One of European Research Council’s latest grants awarded to Israelis is for Bar-Ilan’s project targeting Protein Degradation, aiming to revolutionize how cancer and other diseases are treated at the molecular level. It specifically involves instructing cells to destroy harmful proteins.

Two critically ill Israelis were saved thanks to the heart and lungs donated by a newly deceased patient in Cyprus. Despite a car breakdown, the organs was transported to Israel within 4 hours. In addition, in cross-donations from living donors, five Israelis and three Cypriots received a new kidney.

Researchers at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa have rewritten the book on prenatal testing for genetic diseases. The “old” method checks for identical segments (ROH) in the DNA inherited from mother and father. The new algorithm recognizes that ethnic minorities have more ROH.