Month: February 2016

The Technion mourns the loss of Mr. Alfred E. Mann, of Beverly Hills, CA. A noted scientist, and entrepreneur, Mr. Mann was a loyal supporter who established the Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Development at Technion (AMIT), focused on enabling commercialization of innovative biomedical technologies that improve human health.

Together with his wife, Claude, Mr. Mann was a Technion Guardian, a designation reserved for those who have reached the highest level of commitment.

Al Mann was awarded a Technion Honorary Doctorate in 2005 “in acknowledgement of your innovation as a scientist and technology entrepreneur, and your phenomenal success in launching companies that manufacture medical devices and processes benefiting millions; in recognition of your industrious research efforts aimed at searching for new technologies to improve the health of people the world over; in tribute to your boundless philanthropy; and in appreciation for your belief in the ability and potential of the Technion and your overwhelming generosity demonstrated by your commitment to establish the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the Technion.”

Alfred E. Mann was a biomedical industry pioneer, an innovative scientist, and a noted philanthropist. The son of parents who immigrated to the US from Russia, he received a BSc and MSc from the University of California, Los Angeles. His entrepreneurial spirit emerged quickly and his career took off in 1960 when he founded and served as president of Heliotek, a company that developed solar cells and semiconductor devices, but his real interest was captured by the vast possibilities of designing and manufacturing medical devices.

In 1969, along with a research team at Johns Hopkins University, Al Mann developed the first rechargeable cardiac pacemaker which led to his establishing Pacesetter Systems for the development, manufacture, and distribution of cardiac pacemakers.

Mann’s creativity in the medical device field was unbounded and he went on to found several other companies. Citing two from an impressive listing: Minimed, a manufacturer of microinfusion systems and continuous glucose monitoring systems; and Medical Research Group Inc, a manufacturer of implantable medication infusion systems and developer of a long-term glucose monitoring system and prosthetic artificial pancreas. Alfred Mann served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of MannKind Corporation, a diversified biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics and drug delivery technologies for treatment of diabetes, cancer, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases.

Mr. Mann, together with his wife Claude, was committed to philanthropy. As the creator of the Alfred Mann Foundation and benefactor of the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California, he helped ensure that  biomedical research produced lasting and important discoveries. His commitment to helping others through research and philanthropy was extended to the Technion via the establishment of AMIT, a decision recommended and supported by Claude following their first visit to Israel and the Technion in 1998. The Technion honored Claude by dedicating the Claude Mann Laboratories Complex in 2007.

Redefining part of 300 year-old classification system for grouping members of the animal kingdom

New “molecular fingerprint” of animal kingdom emerges from gene regulation survey

An international team of biologists has identified the molecular signature of the animal kingdom, providing genetic evidence for an animal classification that has been used for nearly 300 years. Their research, published this week in the journal Nature, offers a historic dataset for the field, serving developmental biologists, evolutionary biologists, and computational biologists alike.

The study was led by Professor Itai Yanai of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Department of Biology, in cooperation with research teams in Australia, Germany, the US, and Israel. The research team investigated an extremely diverse set of animal species, applying an extremely powerful technique called CEL-Seq, developed in 2012 by Dr. Tamar Hashimshony in the Yanai lab. CEL-Seq allows for the monitoring of the activity of all genes in individual cells, and the team used it to analyze gene regulation in 70 embryos in each of ten species.

The researchers found a striking pattern of universality across the species. Between phases of similar genes turned ‘on’ at the beginning and the end of development, a mid-developmental transition was discovered. This newly discovered gene regulatory pattern explains how the differences among animals develop and evolve, which allows biology to now have molecular means to define the specific properties of groups of species.

Their work further defines a category of animal life under-defined since 1735 when Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, recognized as the father of the biological classification of organisms, proposed a two-name classification system for the world’s plants and also animals classified animals into “families” based on similarities and differences in body “plans.” The work sheds new light on how, at the molecular and genetic levels, animals of different body designs (whether they have a true spinal column (mammals) or just a nerve cord (chordates) have evolved to be different and why.

Nearly eight million different species of animals are thought to inhabit the planet, covering a striking exuberance of diversity. For example, animals span five orders of magnitude of adult body sizes. Prof. Yanai’s team began this research by asking what is common to all animals. To tackle this question, they chose ten of the most different animals one could choose: a fish, a worm, a fly, a water bear, a sponge, and five others, each of a different phylum (a term coined by German naturalist Ernst Haeckel in the 19th century to describe a group of animals with the same body plan). About 35 phyla are typically recognized, however it remains controversial with contention over whether this is a meaningful classification and, if so, what attributes are the same, or different across all animals.

“We selected species representing ten different animal phyla,” said Prof. Yanai. “For each phyla we determined the gene expression profile of all genes from the development of the fertilized egg to the free-living larvae. We found a surprising pattern of gene expression conservation in all species occurring at a pivotal, transitional period in development.”

By studying the molecular programs of development in ten very different animals, the researchers found that all of the animals they studied express two distinct “modules” of genetic expression. (A module is a set of genes – similar across the organisms – that are turned ‘on.’) During the transition between the modules, mechanisms of cell signaling and regulation occur.

With this new knowledge, the researchers proposed a definition for phylum as “a set of species sharing the same signals and transcription factor networks during the mid-developmental transition.” In other words, they clarified the definition by suggesting that those organisms sharing a phylum, formerly by virtue of body design alone, also share a unique and similar genetic and molecular transition that other species do not.

To demonstrate their proposal, the researchers developed an “hourglass model” that captures gene expression differences between species. The inverse hourglass model shows the origin of phyla compared with the hourglass model that demonstrates “within phylum evolution.”

Embryonic development is called the “phylotypic” stage. This is when the embryo begins to assume recognizable features typical of vertebrates. The phylotypic stage represents a general layout on which specialized features—such as the turtle’s shell, the pig’s snout, or your large brain—can be mounted later in development.

The researchers proposed that during the phyletic transition period, properties specific to each phylum are genetically encoded. Their emerging dataset, they said, will be useful in studying the hallmarks of animal body plan formation from the embryonic stage.

As with many scientific discoveries, the researchers suggest that their work “raises more questions than it answers.” For example, “what molecular pathways underlie phyletic transition in each phylum? Why are the phyletic-transition mechanisms so relatively susceptible to change? Is the coupling of the conserved modules universal to all multicellular life?”

“The transition we identified may be a hallmark of development only in animals,” the researchers concluded. “Or, future work may show that this is a general characteristic of development in all multicellular life.”

Building a Better Microscope. Technion Breakthrough – New Light Wave Compression for Really Seeing at the Molecular Level

New silicon platform compresses light waves past their ‘diffraction limit’ to vastly improve resolution for bio-imaging and nano lithography applications

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed technology to compress light wavelengths fourfold, providing a way to focus light beyond normal wavelengths to reach nanoscales (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter) in length.

Using the metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) platform technology they developed for reducing the former “diffraction limit” of light wave length from 671 nanometers to 65 nanometers, a level at which “super-resolution” is possible, the researchers have made it possible to greatly advance the resolution quality for potential applications ranging from medical imaging to nanolithography (printing tiny electronic components).

“With increased brightness and resolution, microscopes will have increased accuracy at the molecular level,” says Prof. Guy Bartal of the Technion Department of Electrical Engineering. Nanometer-scale structures, such as the lab-on-a-chip device that can integrate several laboratory functions on a single chip, can be fabricated easier and at lower cost using lasers with shortened wavelengths. Bioimaging can also become more accurate and detailed with improved light resolution.  

A paper outlining the characteristics and potential applications of the new platform was published in a recent issue of Optica (Vol 2 No. 2 pp 1045-1048), a publication of the Optical Society of America.  

“The metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) platform we developed gives us the ability to shape, focus and control optical waves beyond their normal wavelengths,” said Prof. Bartal, who explained that as light wavelength is reduced, resolution becomes greater. “This means we can control the resolution and brightness of our focus, and also select its type and shape.”

The team’s super-resolution platform uses ultrathin commercial silicon membranes coated on one side with a thin layer of silicone oxide (Si02) and a metallic layer so as to set the diffraction limit in a controllable way using two-dimensional silicon-based wave guides. (Fig 2)

Not only does the new platform allow the researchers to successfully pass the diffraction limit, which was previously restricted to half the light’s wavelength, the new technology also “pushes” past that restriction without changing the color of the light.

“By providing resolution comparable to state-of-the-art methods, and while keeping the simplicity and flexibility of a diffraction-limited system, we offer the potential to develop a simple, easy-to-fabricate microscopy platform that is compatible with the mature silicon industry,” said Dr. Bergin Gjonaj, a senior researcher in the lab who developed a method to dynamically control the location of the nano-scale focusing.

The researchers’ ultimate goal is the creation of a more accessible device that is “on par” with current super-resolution techniques (which are still expensive, slow or energy-intensive) to make it possible to see biological activities at the molecular level.

The study was funded in part by the KLA-Tencor Corporation and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) and supported by the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute and Micro-Nano Fabrication Unit (MNFU) at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Improves potential of solar to become a major energy source

HAIFA, ISRAEL (February 18th, 2016) – A patented breakthrough by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology improves the efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells by 50 percent, and could someday provide a huge boost for the viability of solar power as a major source of energy. The researchers recently published their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

Organic photovoltaic cells convert solar energy into electric power through organic molecules. One of their advantages over “traditional” solar cells made of silicon is that they can be mounted on lightweight, flexible, and easy-to-replace sheets, which can be spread on roofs and buildings like wallpaper, converting solar energy into electrical current. In the future, they could also be used to provide a cost-efficient and reliable source of electricity in isolated regions.

Despite the advantages of organic cells, their conversion potential to this point has not been fully utilized, according to lead researcher Professor Nir Tessler, of the Technion Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and director of the Wolfson Microelectronic Center and of the Sarah and Moshe Zisapel Nanoelectronics Center at the Technion.

“In our study, we found that the organic photovoltaic cell’s efficiency and electricity production are limited by structural aspects,” he explains. “We have proved that the limitations are related not to the material, but to the device structure. We have developed an addition to the existing systems, improving the efficiency of converting solar energy into electric current inside the cell from 10% (a level considered to be “high efficiency”) to 15% (the level at which industry experts say organic solar cells will be cost-effective), and adding 0.2 volts to the cell’s voltage.”

The development is based on increasing the energy gap between the electrodes by changing their fixed position in the system. By doing so, the researchers were able to increase the voltage, leading to an increase in system power. “This improvement is significant for the relevant industry, and it was achieved by focusing on structural changes in the device, versus developing new materials, a common approach by researchers in this field. It seems as if we have stretched the laws of physics with the aid of engineering.”

Prof. Tessler estimates that he and his team will complete the development of a prototype system within a year.

Link to the article in the Journal of Applied Physics

Vigor Medical Technologies Ltd., operating within the framework of the Technion’s T-Factor Start-Up Launch Program, takes first place (out of 150 companies) in the iNNOVEX Competition. The company developed a novel device that enables the safe insertion of medical instruments into the chest area.

Vigor Medical Technologies Ltd. won first prize at the annual iNNOVEX Competition, and in so doing has been named the most innovative and promising Israeli start-up for 2016. The competition, which was held jointly by Google and the OurCrowd Foundation, attracted some 150 young start-up companies developing novel products expected to have great impact on the lives of many.

Vigor – a start-up developing devices to prevent lung and heart collapse – was established a year and a half ago by Dr. John Abeles, an American physician from Florida who was also the company’s first financial investor, Irina Kavounovski, a Technion graduate from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering who is currently serving as the company’s CEO, and her father Igor Waysbeyn who is the company’s CTO; Waysbeyn specializes in emergency medicine and holds a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Vigor developed a plastic mechanism to treat chest trauma. Thoracic related trauma, which accounts for approximately 4 million cases a year worldwide, is the major cause of death in accidents. Medical treatment offered at such events involves the insertion of drains and surgical tools to the chest area. The ability to provide such treatment within the first hour after traumatic injury – often referred to as the “golden hour” – is critical as it typically determines the fate of the victim in about 80% of cases. However, such medical intervention can be very dangerous because it could potentially damage internal tissues in the chest.

Today, abdominal laparoscopic surgery (minimally invasive) is done using access devices (Trocar), through which surgical tools are inserted and manipulated. The problem is that this device is dangerous for use in chest surgery, as it may damage internal tissues and cause serious or even fatal injuries, especially when used out in the field by paramedics.

Vigor’s product changes the game rules: it allows medical personnel, including paramedics and medics, to perform the treatment without fear of inflicting damage. This product, unlike Trocar devices used in abdominal surgery, allows simple and quick replacement of its drains, so it is also suitable for make-shift field conditions.

Vigor’s product is suitable for treating penetrating trauma (caused by gunshot or stabbing) as well as blunt force trauma (caused by impact such as from a fall, traffic accidents, or other). It becomes fixated to the chest walls and creates a permanently sealed passage that prevents the infiltration and escape of air and liquids, and allows the fixation of the drain for the removal of fluids and air from the chest. The product has been adapted for use in civilian rescue services (such as Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA)) military emergency response units, emergency departments and trauma centers, and to treat patients after chest and abdominal surgery.

The company started out within the framework of the start-up accelerator program MassChallenge in Boston, and went on to take part in the Technion’s T-Factor Start-Up Launch Program. David Shem Tov, the Director of T-Factor, emphasizes that Vigor was the first company to join the accelerator program and is expected to complete its seed stage soon. “This is our goal,” he explains, “to provide Technion researchers, students and alumni with assistance in launching start-ups implementing their innovations. We accompany them through the initial stages, provide them with access to Technion’s technological environment, give them financial support, and do everything in our power to help them build their company.”

In less than two years Vigor’s product completed development and entered preclinical trials, and is expected to soon begin the necessary processes for approvals by the regulatory authorities in the United States (FDA) and Europe (CE). Vigor’s CEO Irina Kavounovski expressed her gratitude, “Technion accompanied us closely both with funding and training, and the Technion Society in France (ATF) directed us towards potential investors and fitting business competitions in France. Here in Israel we received assistance from the Chief Scientist and our product received very positive feedback from the MDA’s chief paramedic. We believe that this win here at iNNOVEX 2016 will open-up more doors and opportunities for potential investors and for growing our contacts in the medical world.”

 http://www.vigormt.com/

WellToDo has developed an innovative technology, based on research originally done at Israel’s top technology academic institute, The Technion, for the removal of common water contaminants.  The company is focused on solving severe water problems in the US.

AST and the Technion recently invested in WellToDo, a company that has developed a technology for the removal of water contaminants. Originally developed in the Technion, WellToDo’s technology, converts water contaminants to non-polluting compounds, using a unique chemical process.  This is an innovative technology that can solve severe water pollution problems in the USA.  WellToDo was chosen by GE as one of the most innovative and promising water technologies in the world.

WellToDo’s technology utilizes a chemical process that converts water contaminants to non-polluting compounds.  This approach is in contrast to current technologies, which separate the water into a main stream which is clean and a side stream that contains a very high concentration of the contaminants.  These technologies shift the pollutants to another place but do not neutralize them. The WellToDo technology is the only available chemical process that removes contaminants without generating any contaminated streams or by-products.

WellToDo was founded in 2013, based on the unique technology developed by Prof. Moshe Sheintuch and Dr. Uri Meytal of the Chemical Eng. Faculty in the Technion. This technology is effective for removing contaminants such as Nitrate, which are commonly found in drinking water, and other contaminants found in waste water in the mining, power generation and the food and beverage industries.

The company started in the incubator program of the Chief Scientist of the State of Israel and the technology for the removal of Nitrates, the most common ground water pollutant, has been validated  in two different ground water sites.  Drinking water contaminated with Nitrate can cause severe health problems and can be fatal to infants.  Monitoring of this contaminant has become a high priority in many countries and contaminated water sources are now prohibited for drinking.  Nitrate contamination of ground water is extremely severe in the US, especially in the mid-west and the states of Nevada and California where drought in the past years have made this problem more acute.

Recently the company raised one million dollars from the A. Shizter group of companies, through its subsidiary AST.  AST has a successful track record with investments in companies coming out of the academia and the incubator program.  The Technion, already a significant shareholder in WellToDo, also participated in the investment round through its dedicated investment fund and maintained its holdings in the company. The investment was accompanied by Adv. Meytal Katz of Primes, Shilo, Givon Meir law firm.

The investment raised will be used to penetrate international markets with an emphasis on the US where the company is already involved in a large project with American Water, the largest water utility in the US.  WellToDo is also in discussions with other industrial companies and water utilities in the US and is now implementing the technology with “Mekorot” the Israel national water utility.

Hovav Gilan, CEO of WellToDo: “The investment of AST and the Technion in WellToDo is a significant milestone for us.  This investment will allow us to penetrate new markets where the need for water treatment is high and our technology offers significant advantages.  We highly appreciate the vote of confidence in the company.”

Boaz Shitzer, CEO of AST: “We consider WellToDo a promising technology that will enable us to supply breaking solutions to our customers in Israel, the US and in India and China where we are seeing a strong interest in WellToDo’s unique platform”.

  

Technion researchers decipher the mechanism of cell-cell fusion, which is vital to embryo formation and development

Technion researchers have deciphered the mechanism of cell-cell fusion, which is vital to basic life processes, including embryo formation (sperm-egg fusion), fetal development and growth of tissues such as muscle and bone. This process is apparently involved in inflammatory and cancerous processes as well. The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.

Prof. Beni Podbilewicz of the Technion Faculty of Biology, who led the study, explains that “it is clear that such a critical process must be closely controlled in space and time. However, despite its importance, this control mechanism has not yet been completely deciphered, and that was our mission in this study: understanding the genetic and cellular mechanisms responsible for controlling fusion.”

Cell-cell fusion is a process in which two cells cling together, their membranes merge in the contact area, and the two cells become one. First the outer layers of the cell membrane fuse, and then the inner layers.

Prof. Podbilewicz, who has been studying the above mechanism for quite some time, discovered that the key player in the process is EFF-1, a developmental fusion protein.  Prof. Podbilewicz said, “We see this protein as a sculptor, since in this process it sculpts cells and organs.”

In the current study, conducted in Prof. Podbilewicz’s laboratory by Dr. Ksenia Smurova, it became clear that successful fusion requires the presence of EFF-1 in both cells that are destined for fusion.  Moreover, the researchers found that in order for fusion to occur, the EFF-1 protein from both cells must meet in the contact area between the cells. However, in order to prevent excessive fusion that can cause the death of the entire organism, these proteins must be kept away from the cell membrane and reach it only at the desired stage. Dr. Smurova discovered that two proteins (Rab5 and dynamin) are responsible for constantly keeping the EFF-1 away from the cell membrane.  

The current study at the Technion, like many other studies in this field, was carried out on the worm (nematode) C. elegans. This microscopic worm has many advantages from a research perspective, including being the first multi-cellular organism whose genome has been fully sequenced. In addition, it is a transparent worm whose organs are visible in non-invasive photography. Several Nobel Prizes have been awarded to scientists for studies with C. elegans, which began in the 1960s.

“After deciphering the mechanism in C. elegans, we examined the action of EFF-1 on cells from insects and mammals, and we have shown that it leads to fusion in these cells as well. The mission of the future is of course to examine the action of this gene in human cells and to determine whether controlling the expression level of this vital gene will enable us to treat infertility, prevent defects in embryonic development, inhibit inflammatory and cancerous processes and more. “

Prof. Podbilewicz, who grew up in Mexico, came to Israel after graduating from high school.  After spending some time at Kibbutz Nir David, he returned to Mexico, completed his undergraduate studies in Mexico City and went on to Yale for his doctoral studies and Cambridge for his postdoc. After his marriage, he immigrated to Israel and has been a faculty member of the Technion Faculty of Biology ever since.  His main hobby – singing – has been part of his life since he was 15. He sang with the Yale Glee Club, Yale Camerata and Cambridge Philharmonic Society, and is now a tenor with the Madrigal Singers Ensemble.

For the full article, please click here

 

 

Prof. Yonina Eldar’s lab at the Technion Faculty of Electrical Engineering is developing a minute and efficient innovative ultrasound system that transmits scans to the treating physician immediately. With such a system, ultrasound scans can be performed in disaster areas, in the case of road accidents in developing countries with limited medical infrastructure, and the team at the site can be given medical instructions based on the findings.

Prof. Yonina Eldar’s lab at the Technion Faculty of Electrical Engineering has developed a new approach to ultrasound examinations. The lab has developed an advanced probe that eliminates the need for the large ultrasound devices that we know from clinics and hospitals. The probe acquires only the relevant data, which is transmitted to a remote processing unit or cloud. The resulting image is then transferred to the treating physician’s smartphone (or tablet). Dr. Shai Tejman-Yarden, a cardiologist at Sheba Medical Center, explains that in the case of injuries, for example, “The development will provide a doctor who is not at the scene with information in real time, enabling him to instruct the paramedic at the scene. This development will also enable remote treatment for patients in developing countries, under the guidance of Israeli doctors.”

Ultrasound  imaging is one of the world’s most common medical tests. Its advantages: it is non-invasive, does not involve exposure to ionizing radiation, is risk-free and relatively inexpensive. Ultrasound is based on high-frequency sound waves that we cannot hear. During the examination, a probe that transmits sound waves is placed against the patient’s body, and an image of the organs being scanned is created based on the pattern of the waves reflected back to the probe. This technology is used in a wide variety of important medical tests: assessing the condition of the fetus in utero, examining the baby’s brain through the fontanel (the gap between the bones of the skull), diagnosing conditions of the internal organs, evaluating blood flow, diagnosing thyroid problems, cardiac examinations, detecting tumors and infections, and more.

At present, ultrasound examinations are performed at clinics and hospitals using a probe connected to a large, cumbersome and expensive ultrasound device. The results of the scan are collected in the computer and interpreted by a radiologist, who sends the diagnosis to the patient’s doctor (generally the family doctor). This process takes several days, which could be critical in some cases.

Uploading the scan results to a cloud and enabling the patient’s doctor to view the findings on his mobile device could save time, but until now this has been avoided due to the large quantity of data acquired in each ultrasound scan. In addition, because of the device’s high data acquisition rate, the probe must be connected to it by means of a thick, heavy cable.

The good news is that the SAMPL Lab at the Technion Faculty of Electrical Engineering, headed by Prof. Yonina Eldar, has developed a system that dramatically changes the nature of ultrasound examinations.  First, with the new algorithm developed at the lab, the data can be reduced at the initial scanning stage, so that it can be uploaded to a cloud without harming image quality and without loss of data on the way. Second, the innovative probe developed at the lab eliminates the need for the large ultrasound devices currently used at most clinics.

Prof. Yonina Eldar’s lab is dedicated mainly to developing innovative data processing methods using only a small portion of the data sampled. Reducing the quantity of data sampled has very dramatic positive implications: shortening the data acquisition and processing time, miniaturizing the systems and accelerating their operation, reducing power consumption and saving money. The idea here is of course finding ways to reconstruct the preliminary data even though it is not transferred in full in this process. This is what the researchers at the lab are working on, and now, as stated, they have recorded a dramatic achievement in the field of ultrasound imaging.

Link to the full article – click here

Suppressing the Gene

Technion scientists uncover an unknown mechanism in living cells: concealment as a means for genetic suppression. The follow-up study to employ novel DNA printing technology in order to decipher “genomic syntax”

According to the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications, Assistant Professor Roee Amit, a faculty member at Technion’s Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, discovered a new concept in cell activity: concealment as a means for genetic suppression.

Genetic suppression is a biological term referring to the repression of genetic activity by the cell. Through direct protein function, living cells know how to activate genes through a process known as gene regulation, and to “turn them off” or suppress them through a process known as repression.

A recent study, headed by Asst. Prof. Roee Amit, discovered that the cell has other ways by which to repress a gene: using a physical concealment, that is, through a protein that prevents the interaction between the gene and the factor attempting to activate it. “The concealing protein can be thought of as a tall man sitting in front of you in the cinema. Another analogy is that of a solar eclipse. In fact, this can be described as a kind of ‘genetic eclipse’ where some proteins settle on a DNA segment at a point on the gene which conceals the factor that is supposed to activate it, effectively suppressing the gene.”

Amit’s hypothesis was tested in three ways through the employment of numerical simulations, synthetic biology and bioinformatics. In other words, the model was verified through simulation and analysis of actual genetic segments. “We verified this model through experimentations conducted on 300 synthetic regulatory sequences in bacteria, and it lead us to establish this new concept. We now believe that this mechanism evolved as an effective mechanism for genetic silencing.”

The new concept will be examined in depth through an extensive research framework to be led by Asst. Prof. Amit. The new study, which will be supported by a €4 million grant from the FET Open program through Horizon 2020 by the European Commission, will include five research groups working together to decipher the  principle regulatory codes of bacteria, yeast, mammalian cells and flies. “The regulatory code is a type of programming language through which the genome is able to control gene expression in terms of location, timing and intensity. The study will make use of innovative DNA printing technologies in order to rewrite the code and examine the output of synthetic applications in living cells.” The researchers hope to decipher the genomic syntax of living cells by writing tens of thousands of synthetic control sequences.

Link to the article:
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160202/ncomms10407/full/ncomms10407.html

Near-death experience gives rise to idea for divers’ distress bracelet; concept takes top prize in 3-Day Startup (3DS) entrepreneurship contest

Omer Arad, a student in the Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, was on a routine dive when he had one of the most terrifying experiences of his life.

“More than 80 feet below sea level, a malfunction prevented the airflow from the tank to the regulator in my mouth,” said Arad. “In an instant one of my favorite hobbies turned into a genuine nightmare. I tried to signal my buddy, but he was far away and wasn’t looking in my direction. Luckily, I came out of it alive.”

The experience led Arad to conceptualize a wearable panic bracelet that lets the diver call his partner even when there is no eye contact between them. The idea earned his team first place at this year’s “3-Day Startup (3DS)” competition, held at the Technion, and organized by the university’s Bronica Entrepreneurship Center.

Dubbed “BLU,” the wearable distress bracelet would be sold in pairs, to be worn by the diver and his diving buddy. A simple press of a button immediately transmits a distress signal – via light and vibration – to the other diver.

“Our mission was to make the diving world safer,” said Arad. “Hundreds of divers die in diving accidents every year, and the currently available solutions for transmitting a distress signal are inadequate, very expensive and designed for professional divers.”

Other members of the BLU team were Aviv Tahar and Oz Meir from the Technion; Manik Arora and Bernadette Che, from Johns Hopkins University; Orit Dolev, a graduate of Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.

This year’s 3DS competition included 45 students from various faculties, selected through a rigorous screening process. Divided into nine teams (“startups”), the students worked with mentors from industry – venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, marketing and business development professionals – and each team presented their concept to a panel of professional investors from leading venture capital funds, including Glilot Capital, AfterDox and the Alon Incubator. The first- and second-place teams earned entries to BizTEC, the Technion’s renowned national student entrepreneurship competition.