Author: shlomi ben-oz

New Technion Study Identifies Factors that Determine Trustworthiness of Online Information About Vaccines

Researchers at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology found that, when evaluating online vaccine information, vaccine-confident people and vaccine-hesitant people perceive the information’s trustworthiness differently.

According to the study “Vaccine information seeking on social Q&A services” published in the March 10, 2020 issue of the journal Vaccine, people who were prompted to evaluate the trustworthiness of vaccine information from online question-and-answer (Q&A) platforms assigned different weights to several criteria depending on whether they were vaccine-confident or vaccine-hesitant. The study’s authors are Associate Professor Ayelet Baram-Tsabari and Dr. Aviv J. Sharon of the Technion Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, together with Dr. Elad Yom-Tov, a visiting scientist at the Technion Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management.

The researchers’ findings show that surfers tend to consider information that encourages vaccination as more trustworthy than information that discourages vaccination, but this is less true for people who are hesitant about vaccines. On average, vaccine-hesitant people’s trustworthiness ratings are more affected by the length of the text provided, suggesting a preference for detailed explanations. Furthermore, across the board, answers provided by health professionals were viewed as more trustworthy than those supplied by parents, which, in turn, were more likely to be perceived as trustworthy than answers that did not mention the writer’s expertise or parenthood status.

These findings are based on 694 participants from the U.S. who rated 600 answers to vaccine-related questions retrieved from “Yahoo! Answers” (e.g., “As a nurse, I can tell you without a doubt there is NO WAY you can get HPV from the shot,” written by a self-described health professional). They then rated the trustworthiness of the person who wrote the answer, as they perceived it, and completed a questionnaire concerning their own vaccine hesitancy. The researchers conducted a statistical analysis of the results to find which characteristics of the answers and the raters best predicted the trustworthiness ratings.

According to the World Health Organization, vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – is considered one of the top ten threats to global health. Experts are concerned that online vaccine misinformation may be contributing to vaccine hesitancy. Despite this risk, little research attention has been paid to understanding how individuals seek vaccine information online and evaluate trustworthiness.

“Vaccine hesitancy is a catchall category for several different styles of decision-making about vaccines. Our study shows some ways in which vaccine hesitancy can be manifested in online behavior,” said the lead author, Aviv J. Sharon.

The study’s findings indicate that, despite the proliferation of anti-vaccine messages online, there is still a great deal of public trust in the knowledge provided by mainstream science and medicine. The findings of the study also suggest that expert outreach in online environments may be an effective intervention to address vaccine hesitancy. 

Dr. Tomer Michaeli of the Vieterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Dr. Yuval Filmus of the Faculty of Computer Science are among this year’s ten young Israeli researchers to win the Krill Prize, the Wolf Foundation has announced. The two are accomplished researchers, who have already won various prestigious awards, including the Alon Fellowships and ERC grants.

Dr. Tomer Michaeli will receive the prize for his: “Groundbreaking work in the areas of signal processing and image processing, computer vision and machine learning.” His research develops new technologies for image processing and image recovery – with applications including medical imaging, scientific imaging, and microscopy. Among his achievements, Dr. Michaeli participated in the development of innovative technology for single molecule-based biological imaging. This technology provides an accurate, high-resolution image at unprecedented speed. He recently won the best article award (Marr Prize) at the ICCV conference, together with his doctoral student and another partner. The ICCV is one of the two most important conferences in the world for computer vision.

Dr. Yuval Filmus will be awarded the prize for his: “Research on discrete harmonic analysis in computer science.” He deals with a theoretical field called “Boolean function analysis.” Such functions appear, among others, in computational complexity problems, encryption theory, graph theory, and combinatorial optimization. Already during his Ph.D., Dr. Filmus solved a 30-year problem in graph theory by proving the Sominovits and Sós hypothesis. Since then, he has recorded other achievements in computational complexity, science of choice, combinatorics and combinatorial optimization.

The prestigious Krill Prize is awarded to excelling faculty members at universities in Israel who have not yet received tenure. The $10,000 prizes are funded by the estate of donor Abraham Hirsch Krill Shlanger (1912-2007), born in Germany, who immigrated with his wife to South American in 1938 and was a staunch supporter of the State of Israel. “Receiving the prize is a significant step in the personal development of the academic track,” said CEO of the Wolf Foundation Reut Inon Berman. “We have witnessed the impressive achievements of award recipients over the years, many of whom are currently holding key roles in leading scientific research in Israel and around the world.”

Prof. Yehudit Judy Dori of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has been selected to receive the NARST 2020 Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award (DCRA). 

Prof. Dori has made many significant, lasting contributions to the field of science education. Her research on teaching, learning and curricula has impacted how science is taught in the K-12 and undergraduate settings. Coinciding with her well-regarded research on visualization, assessment, and metacognition, she has pioneered the field of science education through her work on many national and international committees. The hallmark of her academic contributions is her notable leadership, which has produced science education researchers and leaders and resulted in international connections that advance the field. Professor Dori’s dedication to improve science teaching and learning has made a global impact.

She served as the Dean of Continuing Education and External Studies and later as the  Dean of the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion, Prof. Dori has also intermittently been a visiting professor and scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

Since 1928, NARST has promoted research in science education and the communication of knowledge generated by research. The ultimate goal of NARST is to help all learners achieve science literacy, encourage and support the application of diverse research methods and theoretical perspectives from multiple disciplines to the investigation of teaching and learning in science, and communicate science education research findings to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

Prof. Dori co-edited two books on cognition and metacognition in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, published numerous journal papers, and mentored about seventy graduate students.

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the University of Bologna in Italy have achieved a dramatic improvement in the use of solar energy to produce hydrogen and other products.

For decades, hydrogen has been considered the fuel of the future, because its burning releases only energy and water, and does not pollute the environment. But most of today’s hydrogen is produced from natural gas in a polluting process that contributes to global warming. A promising alternative for clean and renewable production of hydrogen is the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen, using sunlight, by a process called photocatalysis.  

In a photocatalytic process, positive and negative electric charges, which are generated in semiconductor particles following absorption of sunlight, are harnessed for the promotion of chemical reactions of interest. In the case of water splitting, the electric charges break the water molecules; the negative charges produce hydrogen, and the positive charges produce oxygen. The two reactions, involving the positive and negative charges, must take place simultaneously. Without taking advantage of the positive charges, the negative charges cannot be routed to produce the desired hydrogen. 

As a result, even though oxygen is not considered a valuable product, a great global effort was devoted to the development of photocatalytic systems that can achieve overall water splitting. These efforts, however, met little success. The water-splitting reaction involves several separate steps, and as a result, remains a significant challenge. As of yet, stable and efficient photocatalytic systems that can facilitate full water splitting have not been developed, and the search for means for green renewable production of hydrogen continues.

Now, in an article published in the journal Nano Energy, a creative solution to this problem has been presented. 

The research was led by Professor Lilac Amirav of the Technion’s Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, together with colleagues at the University of Bologna. The group used unique miniature particles, developed several years ago by Prof. Amirav, as the photocatalytic system. These nanoscale particles (one nanometer is 10-9 m) present the greatest efficiency in utilizing light and the negative charges for the production of hydrogen. Now, the team demonstrates a new approach for efficient utilization of the positive charges as well, and a way for decoupling the desirable Hydrogen production from the problematic Oxygen evolution.

The researchers present remarkable photocatalytic activities for the production of hydrogen from water, while simultaneously transforming benzylamine to benzaldehyde. The benzaldehyde is produced using the positive charges, as an alternative to the production of oxygen. Used by the food, paint, plastic and cosmetic industries, it is considered a valuable product. The innovative process uses both the negative and the positive charges, thus utilizing solar energy in a more efficient and effective way.

“One could say that we have transformed the process from photocatalysis to photosynthesis, that is, genuine conversion of solar energy into fuel,” said Prof. Amirav. “In addition, the energy-conversion efficiency in this process sets a new world record in the field of particle-based photocatalysis.”

Prof. Amirav is referring to the fact that the photocatalytic system performs true conversion of solar power into storable chemical bonds, with a maximum of 4.2% Solar-To-Chemical energy conversion efficiency. This figure establishes a new world record in the field of photocatalysis, and doubles the previous record. More importantly, the U.S. Department of Energy defined 5-10% as the “practical feasibility threshold” for generating hydrogen through photocatalysis. The researchers’ success in solar energy conversion brings us to the doorsteps of economically viable solar to hydrogen conversion. 

In the illustration: The vision of artificial photosynthesis as a way to improve human welfare. The illustration won first place in December in the SUN-ERGY competition. The competition was held as part of the Sunrise Initiative, whose goal is to develop renewable and non-polluting energy technologies. 

Tamar Rott Shaham, a doctoral student at the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, won the Best Paper Award (Marr Prize) at the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) together with her supervisor, Prof. Tomer Michaeli and Dr. Tali Dekel from Google Research. 

ICCV is one of the three most important conferences in the field of computer vision, and the winning article was selected from more than 4,000 competing submissions.  

The winning paper described a new deep learning methodology developed by the Technion team. The researchers developed an algorithm that automatically generates “invented” images based on only a single picture example – as opposed to the vast pool of images, on which current methods are based.  The field of Deep Learning traditionally involves training a neural network based on a huge collection of samples. But here, the researchers present an innovative technique for training a generative neural network, with a training set containing only one picture.

Using the trained model, new image variations can be created that contain semantic data similar to the given image. In addition, the model can perform a variety of tasks such as editing the image, turning a painting into a realistic image and even creating a short video. 

 

From nanoscale complex applications to women’s rugby, doctoral student Sara Iacopetto is playing the Technion field of excellence.

Now 27 years old, Iacopetto first came to the Technion as part of a student exchange program with the Politecnico di Milano, where she studied for a master’s degree in Materials Engineering. She was invited to return to pursue a Ph.D. by her mentor Prof. (Emeritus) Moshe Eizenberg.

The Israeli temperament is similar to the Italian, says Iacopetto. “The scenery here is great. You just leave the dorms and you’re right in a forest. It’s very different from Milan, which is very urban.”

The master’s degree studies in Italy are frontal lecture oriented, without research, says Iacopetto. In contrast, she enjoys the experimental research and labs equipped with top-notch instruments at Technion. “I was surprised that the students here receive a lot of training and responsibility. They are an important part of the research team,” she says.

As a doctoral student, Iacopetto is involved in applied research, spending much of her time at the Technion  Electron Microscopy Center (MIKA) and at the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute. “There is still a great deal of theory involved – because scientific understanding is essential when developing complex applications. I am dealing with the characterization of Metal-Semiconductor interfaces for S/D contacts of logic transistors.”

For the past three years, Iacopetto has also been captain of the Haifa women’s rugby team, and she has no doubt that rugby helps her very much in her studies. “I believe that sports are a necessary activity for preserving the mental health of students. Rugby, specifically, is a charming, very physical but yet not violent sport that gives me a lot of joy and motivation for studying as well. The team is a family and includes Christians, Jews, and Muslims – from various countries and backgrounds – and this is a great combination with the strongest team spirit I ever found.” And no less important – on the Wild Boars team she met her partner today, Omri Afek.

Her sports career began with athletics, which led her to Italian championships. At the age of 18, after seven years of long-distance running, she traveled with her father to South Africa. “One of the pubs broadcast an international rugby tournament,” she recalls. “It captivated me, and when I returned to Italy, I looked for a team in which to play”

“I started playing in the Technion team during the master exchange of 7 months. They helped me a lot in the first period while I was settling here again for the PhD.”

The Wild Boars team at the Technion is now part of the Maccabi Haifa Association. The Technion team produced top players in the Israeli National team, including the captain of the current Women’s National team, Daria Velikovsky.

What’s next? “I intend to complete my doctorate and leave academics to go to industry. And the possibility of working in a startup company intrigues me. In any case, I don’t intend to leave Israel, probably not for a long time.”

Technion-born Dr. Roni Penn, daughter of Technion Prof. Michal Penn,  is innovating new ways to enhance the efficiency and efficacy of water and sewer systems

Roni Penn was born in Haifa to a pair of students who lived in the Technion dormitories. After high school, Nahal Brigade service, and an after-army trip she came back to campus in 2003 as an environmental engineering student. After 12 years at the Technion, equipped with a doctorate degree in civil and environmental engineering, which she received under the guidance of Prof. Eran Friedler, she went on to a post-doctorate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (ETC- Eawag) and in 2019 returned to the Technion for a second time, this time as a faculty member in the Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Division of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty.

“I was always very proud of my mother who is a Professor at the Technion,” she says, “but in my youth, to be a faculty member was not my life’s ambition and it was not what I thought I would do when I grew up. Life has its own interesting flow,” she adds with a smile. And she should know, as Dr. Roni Penn’s research deals with flow. She is an expert in modeling and experimenting with the movement of solids in wastewater and investigating their effects on sewage systems. 

Her mother, Prof. Michal Penn, joined the Technion faculty in 1992. She was raised and educated in Kibbutz Naveh Eitan, and during her army service, she completed external matriculation. Following her undergraduate studies in mathematics and statistics at the Hebrew University she went for an eight-month trip to Africa – and then landed at the Technion. “I wanted to do performance research, and the Technion was the best place for that,” she says. “This worked out great with my husband, Michael, who started studying here at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering while I studied for my master’s and doctoral degrees in performance research at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. We moved into the junior faculty dormitories and that’s where Roni was born.”

“So I was actually born in the Technion,” says Roni, “and even after moving to our own apartment, the connection continued, because I used to come to the pool, play tennis with my dad in front of the wall. It’s really the place where I grew up.”

Upon the completion of studies, the family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where Michal completed her post-doctorate at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Michael – his master’s degree. When the family returned to Israel, Dr. Michal Penn joined as a faculty member of the Davidson Industrial Engineering and Management Faculty. “I deal with performance research and combinatorial optimization,” she says and explains: “Actually, I work on finding optimal solutions to complex problems. For example, the traveling agent – when the agent has to visit a given number of cities in the shortest time. The problem seems simple, but it is very difficult to solve. In one of my projects, I assisted ‘Zim’ with planning the loading and unloading of containers on their ships. This is a very complex problem where there are different types of containers along the route that need to be loaded and unloaded, and the goal is to do this in the most effective way. As a rule, these are such complex mathematical problems that we usually solve them with approximate methods and research their individual cases.”

Roni, her daughter, works in a completely different field – the development of models for examining the transition to efficient water systems and the effect of such a transition on existing water and sewer systems. She says wastewater in Israel undergoes purification processes in central facilities while being transported long distances.

“Many studies show that, in some cases, decentralizing treatment of this water and purifying it at local facilities in the home, building or neighborhood level is more efficient both economically and in terms of the water cycle and the nutrients found in the wastewater. This is an important and correct trend, but as a change, the decentralization of water treatment also causes side effects unrelated to its initial purpose. Such a change raises many complex maintenance and management questions, especially in the transition phase from centralized systems to distributed or hybrid (partially decentralized) systems. From a research standpoint, there is a mix of many fields – physics, chemistry, mechanics, flow and biology while using advanced research tools like cameras, lasers, machine learning, and data science – and I am developing theoretical solutions, models and simulations and conducting experimental research on reactors simulating the transport system. The lab that I am building here will have a 30-meter tube, rooted throughout with cameras and lasers that will allow us to monitor the state of liquids and solids in various flows. The goal is to develop sewer system dynamics models, build scenarios and give recommendations to the planners.”

How did you get into this field? 

“In high school, I studied physics, chemistry, and mathematics, but I also very much liked to teach. In the army, I was a teacher and I was drawn to the fields of education. I searched for a field that was practical but with educational value and social impact. So, when I signed up for the Technion, I chose a practical path that has implications for society: environmental engineering.”

She says, “Most people just flush the toilet water and they don’t care what happens beyond that. I’m a profound person and I love to explore things in depth. Sewage systems are very important to the lives of all of us, if we do not treat wastewater properly, we will all become sick.”

Recently, Dr. Roni Penn participated in the Technion’s guidance day for new faculty members, during which they are given an introductory tour of the campus, the various administrative divisions and also the teaching and research requirements. “I have known the Technion all my life and yet it feels different to return to campus as a faculty member and I have to learn and understand the many requirements of new Technion faculty members.”

What about female representation on campus? 

“Along with me, five new female faculty members were hired,” says Roni, “that’s almost a third of all new faculty members recruited this year.”

Michal notes that she has seen a lot of progress in female representation on campus among Roni’s generation, but she thinks there is still more work to be done. “At my graduation ceremony at the Technion in 1988, I remember being almost the only woman. When Roni graduated in 2016, almost half of the graduates were women.”

“In our Industrial Engineering and Management faculty there are many female students studying for varying degrees, this was also the case in my day; the problem is that down the road, as faculty members, the number of women unfortunately diminishes. My progress has always been slower, but that was my choice because I had little kids at home and that was the pace that suited me. I always did everything slower but never felt less appreciated than my colleagues in light of my pace. 

“It is important for me to wish Roni success on the path she has chosen. From personal experience, I know that this is not an easy path, but it is important that she remain attentive to the path she takes and not just the result and the end goal. It is important for her to take calculated risks, and especially take things in proportion and remain attentive to herself.”

Innovative research in genetics has produced a way to correct a rare syndrome called ICF or (or Immunodeficiency, Centromere instability and Facial anomalies syndrome). This is an immune disorder which can seriously endanger babies and children. The method was published in the journal eLIFE and includes the research of doctoral student Shir Toubiana and her supervisor Prof. Sara Selig at the Molecular Medicine Laboratory at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion; as well as their colleague Dr. Maria Matarazzo of the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics ABT CNR, Italy.

ICF syndrome is a rare and dangerous disease that causes immunodeficiency and mortality in the majority of patients during the first two decades of their lives. Additionally, the chromosomes – the molecules containing the genetic material – are characterized by instability in the patient cells.

From the genetic point of view, in about half of the patients, the syndrome is caused by mutations in the DNMT3B gene that is responsible for adding a chemical group of methyl to certain regions of the DNA. The main role of DNA methylation is to control gene expression and maintain chromosome stability – a biological process that protects, among other things, telomeres, the ends of chromosomes. As such, malfunctions in the methylation process lead to a disruption of telomere regulation and premature aging of patients’ cells. The disorder in ICF syndrome patients most likely starts early in their embryonic development.

Shir Toubiana, an outstanding doctoral student and a future physician, was diagnosed as hearing impaired since birth. Since then, she has been wearing hearing aids in both ears, but to her, that not a disadvantage but a challenge. She studied within the regular education system and did her military service as an instructor and mentor in the IDF Junior Command Preparatory School near the Reali School in Haifa.

A few months after being discharged, Toubiana was already studying at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, and by the end of her third year in Medical school, she was accepted into the prestigious MD/PhD program, that combines medicine with research and prepares its participants to become physician-researchers. Graduates of the program earn a dual degree: Doctor of Medicine (MD) and a Doctor of Life Sciences (PhD). As a research doctoral student, Toubiana was accepted into the Baroness Ariane de Rothschild Women’s Doctoral scholarship Program for outstanding doctoral students, that empowers doctoral students from diverse backgrounds to reach their goals in academia and in Israeli society.

Toubiana’s contributions to the field of medicine are already having an impact. From the genetic point of view, in about half of the patients with ICF, the syndrome is caused by mutations in the DNMT3B gene that is responsible for adding a chemical group of methyl to certain regions of the DNA. The main role of DNA methylation is to control gene expression and maintain chromosome stability – a biological process that protects, among other things, telomeres, the ends of chromosomes. As such, malfunctions in the methylation process lead to a disruption of telomere regulation and premature aging of patients’ cells. The disorder in ICF syndrome patients most likely starts early in their embryonic development.

The study published in eLIFE describes the successful correction of mutations in the DNMT3B gene in cells of ICF patients. Following the correction, performed on stem cells derived from the skin cells of those patients, the modified protein performed methylation of the DNA in different regions of the genome.

We have restored the functional capacity of DNMT3B and so we have been able to rescue the methylation in centromeres – the areas in the centers of chromosomes – but not in most telomeres,” says Toubiana. “We have found that the failure is due to certain molecular barriers that are part of the ‘epigenetic memory’ of patients’ original skin cells. Through chemical manipulation, we were successful in lowering some of these barriers, and indeed, the level of methylation in the telomere environment has increased.” She clarifies that although this is an important stage, “there is still a lot of work to be done on the way to treating these patients. Among other things, to find a way to allow DNMT3B to re-methylate at all its targets. Such a step will bring us closer to effective treatment, not only for ICF syndrome but also for other epigenetic diseases.”

The present study incorporated two innovative and important technologies in repairing mutations in patients’ cells: induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) and the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing system. In the first stage, adult cells taken from the patient undergo reprogramming using molecular means that transform them from skin cells into pluripotent stem cells – iPS, that is, cells that have the potential to become body cells of different types. The stem cells obtained in this way are genetically modified using the novel CRISPR-Cas9 method. It is worth noting that the development of iPS technology led to the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine and that CRISPR-Cas9 technology was at the center of the Technion’s Harvey Prize awarded at the end of 2019.

“In the future, I aspire to combine clinical work as a physician with basic scientific research,” says Toubiana. “I believe that the two disciplines are intertwined and grant the physician a broader view of their patients and the possibility of researching the mechanism underlying their disease in depth.”

Alongside the intense academic and research activities, Toubiana still finds time to develop her leadership skills. This is the second year that she is a member of the Steering Committee of the Ariane de Rothschild program, founded by the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation. “This is a great opportunity to reflect our needs as doctoral students, to initiate and bring up new professional training ideas that will help us in the future and that will be implemented in collaboration with the foundation. Planning these activities requires a lot of investment, but the reward is a sense of self-fulfillment in giving to the community that I have become a part of.”

For the full study in eLIFE click here.

Technion Researchers Turn Bacterial Cell Into Biological Computer

Researchers at the Technion have created a biological computer, constructed within a bacterial cell and capable of monitoring different substances in the environment. Currently, the computer identifies and reports on toxic and other materials. Next up: the ability to warn about hemorrhaging in the human body. 

The research by Ph.D. student Natalia Barger and Assistant Professor Ramez Daniel, head of the Synthetic Biology and Bioelectronics Lab at the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, was published in September 2019 in the journal Nucleic Acids Research (NAR). 

In recent decades, the barriers between engineering and life sciences have been falling, and from the encounter between the two different disciplines, a new science – synthetic biology – was born. Synthetic biology introduces engineering into biology, makes it possible to design and build biological systems that don’t exist in nature, and supplies an innovative toolbox for reprogramming the genetic code in living creatures, including humans. 

In their NAR article, the researchers present a reorganization of the complex genetic structure of bacterial luciferase – proteins involved in the creation of light by bacterial cell.

“We built a kind of biological computer in the living cells. In this computer, as in regular computers, circuits carry out complicated calculations,” said Barger. “Only here, these circuits are genetic, not electronic, and information are carried by proteins and not electrons.” 

Bacterial luciferase and its substrate are encoded by five genes, and is responsible for generating light in the bacterial cell. By splitting the natural structure of the luciferase, the researchers created various genetic circuits and inserted them into the cells of E. coli bacteria. The result was that the engineered bacteria transmit signals as a product of computational action within the cell. In this way, they can serve as smart biosensors, analytical tools for monitoring and quantifying environmental infections and other toxic substances. 

“Today, similar devices in bacteria already exist, but these are based on the existing system (luciferase) as it is,” explained the researchers. “On the other hand, we have reconfigured the system to work the way we want so as to locate the materials and the combinations of materials that interest the user. Even more so, our system is able to cope with multiple inputs – that is, with different materials simultaneously. The problem we face – the accurate identification of input – is difficult to solve at the measurement story or after that, and the optimal solution lies at the intracellular level.” 

The first application of the innovative system has been tested and successfully functioned by monitoring Nalidixic acid and hydrogen peroxide – toxic substances that harm the DNA and drive cancer processes. At the next stage, the researchers will examine the possibility of programming the bacterial cell to warn of bleeding in the human body. 

“Our research takes synthetic biology one step further and makes biology an accurate and planned science,” concluded Prof. Daniel. “The world in general, and the Technion in particular, are now working to tighten the interface between life sciences and engineering. In the current study, we developed a complex biocomputer, that is, a programmed biological system that fulfills complex tasks. In essence, we are introducing here a new, or renewed, organism that was not created in a normal evolutionary process but in a planned engineering process.” 

Assistant Prof. Ramez Daniel completed his bachelor’s degree in the Technion’s Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in electronics and electrical engineering at Tel Aviv University. He worked for eight years as a circuit designer in TowerJazz (the global specialty foundry leader that specializes in manufacturing analog integrated electronic circuits). After his PhD, he conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he built the first biological computer inside a bacterium. Since 2014, he has headed the Synthetic Biology and Bioelectronics Lab in the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering.

Natalia Barger completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the Technion’s Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. This year, she is expected to complete her doctorate in biomedical engineering.

 

The Second International Conference on Wearable Devices, which was Held at the Technion, Focused on Chemical Sensors for Monitoring Signs of Illness

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology held the International Conference on Wearable Devices for Monitoring Health. The lectures during the two-day meeting focused mainly on developing chemical sensors that monitor the user’s medical condition. 

The conference was led, for the second year, by the research group of Professor Hossam Haick. An expert in sensor-based medical monitoring, Prof. Haick is the head of the Wolfson Chemical Engineering Nanoscale Device Laboratory, a member of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Equal Opportunities, and the Dean of Certification Studies. This year’s conference was organized by members of his research group, Dr. Rotem Vishinkin, Yana Milyutin, Liat Tsuri, and Dr. Yoav Broza.

“Wearable devices for monitoring health has become part of our daily lives,” said Prof. Haick. “We see this in smart watches, monitoring bracelets, and clothing that transfers physiological data. However, developing the sensors that read this data is a slow process that doesn’t keep pace with technological advances on the chemical side. Thus, we decided this year to focus on the sensors and their connection to the electronic components that receive the data.” 

At the conference, leading experts from Israel and abroad lectured on a wide range of topics including smart sensing of physiological data; flexible electronic wearables for health monitoring; breath sensors for smartphones; monitoring tuberculosis in the Third World; continuous pain monitoring; a lab-on-skin; paper batteries; and electronic skin that repairs itself.  

According to Prof. Haick, “It is important that we do not settle for the presentation of each speaker’s personal achievements but also discuss possibilities for future collaborations among engineers, doctors and scientists – collaborations that are vital for advancing the field.” 

The four main plenaries were delivered by the following speakers:

* Prof. Joseph Wang, a Technion graduate who completed all his academic degrees there and is today a professor at the University of California at San Diego. He said “the bottleneck of research and development today is the biochemical stage – the sensing of physiological data. Physical monitoring sensors are exposed to hostile conditions that include heat, sweat, dust, and more, and we expect them to be tiny, sensitive, selective, fast and inexpensive without consuming much energy. This is a very serious challenge, and we cope with it by various means – tattoos for monitoring the skin, micro-needles for diagnosing and introducing materials into the skin, glasses that include sensors, a ring for monitoring the amount of alcohol and cannabis in the blood, and even a pacifier that monitors a baby’s condition.”

* Prof. Howard Katz of Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, a specialist in chemical and biomolecular sensors and cancer diagnosis, said: “It is a great honor for me to visit the Technion and collaborate with the Startup Nation. We are engaged in the promotion of personalized medicine based on lightweight, affordable, flexible, and convenient monitoring devices that provide ongoing information on the physiological state of humans at the molecular level.” 

* Prof. Sihong Wang of the University of Chicago talked about the potential applications in biological research, health-status monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment. He noted that “technological developments are minimizing the distance between humans and the electronics that serve them. First there was the desktop computer, then the laptop computer, then the smartphone that is in our pockets. But that is just the beginning. Electronics inserted into our bodies will be a revolution in personalized medicine. But along the way, major chemical and physical challenges will have to be overcome. For my research group, the main target right now is a flexible and stretchable electronic system that will get its energy from the body.” 

* Prof. Shizuo Tokito of the Research Center for Organic Electrics at Yamagata University in Tokyo, who develops thin, printed transistors for physiological monitoring, spoke about markers in the sweat and ways to monitor them. This is done through integrated, flexible, printed electronic devices attached to the skin and systems that analyze the information through a “cloud.”

Prof. Haick said in summation that the conference aroused positive resonance that will bear fruit in future collaborations between the Technion and other universities and between academia and industry. 

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Technion FIRST in Dubai and AIPAC 

In celebration of their winning a silver medal at last October’s Robotics Olympics in Dubai, the FIRST Israel team from Megiddo Regional High School has been invited to speak on the stage of the prestigious AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Megiddo Team, which functions under the FIRST Israel organization led by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Israel’s Education Ministry and Ministry of Science and Technology, went to Dubai last October to participate in the Global Challenge FIRST World Olympics. Following its impressive accomplishments during what was largely a secret trip, and earning a silver medal, the team members were invited to speak at AIPAC March 1-3, 2020 in Washington, D.C. 

The teens who represented the organization and the State of Israel in Dubai will fly to the US on February 26 to take part in grand rehearsals before speaking on stage, presenting the robot they developed and sharing their special story. 

The competition, which featured 119 delegations from 119 countries, was an important opportunity for positive exposure for the State of Israel in the technological and diplomatic aspects. The Israeli team participated in the international competition and qualified for the finals as head of the cluster of delegations competing together that included Italy, Uganda, and Australia. The Israeli team won the silver medal in the finals after completing the preliminary stage with the highest point ranking and being the only team with a perfect winning score of 9-0-0. The team also received a special award for giving exceptional help to other teams.

The eight teens are Noa Duman, Yuval Perry, and Ron Perry of Ramot Menashe; Itai Ziv of Merhavia; Omar Baram of Yokneam-Illit; Ido Levy and Gal Chapman of Ramat Hashofet; and Uzi Ben Yitzhak of Kibbutz Megiddo. Two mentors – Osnat Duman and Nissim Levy – and security staff accompanied the students to ensure their safety in Dubai. The team made the trip thanks to the assistance of the Megiddo Regional Council, the Mellanox Company, the Tama Group, and additional companies, as well as support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 

The delegations in Dubai came from all over the world and competed, using robots they alone developed, with a challenge simulating collection of garbage from oceans and protecting the environment. Points were given based on their ability to collect as many items as possible from the arena where the competition was held.

 

FIRST is an acronym for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization was established in 1989 by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen to inspire the love of science and technology in children and youth. It uses a model of sporting robotics competitions where teams compete against each other in a challenge. 

More than 570,000 children and teens participate in FIRST programs around the world. Sponsored by the Technion, FIRST Israel has been operating as a non-profit organization since 2005. It is headed by Major-General (res.) Avihu Ben-Nun. In Israel, 14,000 children and youth from kindergarten to 12th grade from all over the country and from all sectors participate in this activity. 

“The achievements of the high school delegation from Megiddo to Dubai were a source of pride and respect for Israel FIRST and the entire State of Israel,” said Major-General (res.) Avihu Ben-Nun. “I am thrilled that our friends at AIPAC recognize the importance of the event, and we thank them for inviting them to the conference and supporting the team’s technological success. We also thank our partners at the Technion, the Education Ministry, the Science and Technology Ministry and the Megiddo Regional Council who have been of great assistance so that the pupils could participate in the Robotics Olympics in Dubai. 

“The team’s travel to Dubai today marks the success of the FIRST Israel community, as we mark 15 years since establishing a branch in Israel that has taken upon itself, in collaboration with the Technion, to increase the motivation of the generation of the future to engage in science and technology, alongside the values ​​of helping others, partnership, professional courtesy and mutual responsibility. On behalf of FIRST Israel, I wish good luck to our representative on the AIPAC stage.”  

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan said: “FIRST is an important and wonderful program that expresses the Technion’s mission of encouraging science and engineering studies among children and youth. Moreover, it expresses the spirit of change that we are working to implement in teaching methods in the Technion. The stress is shifting from frontal teaching to learning based on projects; it will give students not only knowledge but also a broader systemic vision, including leadership and teamwork skills. The Technion has been a partner in the FIRST program from its inception and will continue to support it as an important and vital national program. We view FIRST students as our future students – leaders who will ensure the continued advancement of technology and research in Israel.”

Science and Technology Ofir Akunis added: “This excellent team made an unprecedented achievement in its ranking and qualities at the Robotics Olympics in Dubai. In fact, I had no doubt that they would have tremendous achievements, and so I told them at our meeting, on the eve of their leaving for the competition. They give us real national pride and are absolute proof of the importance of the government’s decision that I led since taking office – to finance these missions from the ministry’s budget. I wish the team members a good flight to Washington and am sure that they will represent us with honor on the AIPAC stage in the American capital as well.” 

Education Minister Rafi Peretz concluded: “The wonderful achievement of our national robotics team brings tremendous pride for the education system and the entire State of Israel. In addition to its educational importance, a competition was also an important opportunity for Israel from the ground-breaking technological and diplomatic aspects. In light of the competition’s importance, I worked hard to obtain the security authorizations required for our pupils to participate in the prestigious competition. We will continue to work for the development of our children’s future and creating excellence so that Israel will continue to be a leading force in the global market. I welcome and salute the winning team. Your success is our success. Congratulations to you and the supporting personnel who accompanied you.”