Author: shlomi ben-oz

HAIFA, ISRAEL (February 2, 2015) – A research consortium headed by Professor Hossam Haick of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is developing a product that, when coupled with a smartphone, will be able to screen the user’s breath for early detection of life-threatening diseases.

Funded by a grant from the European Commission, the SNIFFPHONE project will link Prof. Haick’s acclaimed breathalyzer screening technology to the smartphone to provide non-invasive, fast and cheap disease detection. It will work by using micro- and nano-sensors that read exhaled breath and then transfer the information through the attached mobile phone to an information-processing system for interpretation. The data is then assessed and disease diagnosis and other details are ascertained.

The technology is supported by a recent €6 million (US$6.8 million) grant to the consortium to expand the “electronic nose” breathalyzer technology that Prof. Haick has been developing since he joined the Technion in 2006. That technology can identify individuals from the general population who have a higher likelihood for contracting a specific disease, and treat them in advance or at an early stage.

The entities participating in the winning consortium include Siemens; universities and research institutes from Germany, Austria, Finland, Ireland and Latvia; and Israeli company NanoVation-GS Israel. NanoVation-GS is a Technion spin-off headed by Dr. Gregory Shuster and Sagi Gliksman, who are both graduates of Prof. Haick’s laboratory. Prof. Haick serves as Chief Scientific Officer.

“The SNIFFPHONE is a winning solution. It will be made tinier and cheaper than disease detection solutions currently, consume little power, and most importantly, it will enable immediate and early diagnosis that is both accurate and non-invasive,” says Prof. Haick. “Early diagnosis can save lives, particularly in life-threatening diseases such as cancer.”

Prof. Haick, a member of the Technion Faculty of Chemical Engineering and a researcher at the Technion’s Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, is recognized in the scientific and academic world for his  “electronic nose” research. He has received more than 40 prestigious awards and honors, including the Marie Curie Excellence Award, the ERC (European Research Council) Award, the Discovery Award of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Halevy Award for Innovative Applied Engineering. He was made a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the French government, and has been chosen for numerous “best of” lists including the MIT Technology Review’s TR35 (listing the world’s top 35 young scientists).

The research is being carried out in collaboration with the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute.

In the photo: Professor Hossam Haick
Photo Credit: The Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office

Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie, and Prof. Dan Shechtman visited China to deepen and strengthen collaborations with Chinese universities and schools

In mid-January, Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie, and Prof. Dan Shechtman travelled to China, along with Dr. Moshe Marom, the site Director of the Technion- Guangdong Institute of Technology in China. On this visit Profs. Peretz and Shechtman met with senior leaders of Peking University (ranked among the top universities in mainland China) to discuss future cooperation in areas including innovation, environmental engineering, chemistry and others. They also visited the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China – one of the most prestigious high schools in Beijing. Prof. Shechtman lectured in front of 600 students here.

The visit to China aimed to deepen and strengthen Technion’s ties in China. In the near future, the Technion intends to invest great efforts in initiating similar visits, as well as in building a presence on ‘weibo’ (China’s Twittter-like microblogging service), promoting the Technion through media exposure in the forms of interviews, articles and marketing materials, and in advancing collaborative initiatives with universities and other Chinese educational institutes.

The Technion-Guangdong Institute of Technology (Technion-Guangdong) – a scientific-research institute of technology founded on the ‘Technion model’ – will be established in the Guangdong Province in southern China. Technion-Guangdong will be launched according to the 2013 agreement signed between the Technion, Shantou University (STU) and the Li Ka Shing Foundation. At the signing ceremony, STU Provost, Prof. Gu Peihua stated that Shantou University chose Technion as its partner from 74 potential partners that were carefully selected – “because the Technion had shown the world what the future university should do in order to deliver values of regional, national and international significance. What Technion has done to advance the Israeli economy through student and staff research and innovation is an example for Chinese universities to follow.  If many universities in Guangdong and China do the same as Technion has been doing in Israel, an innovation-based economy will emerge.”

Strengthening relationships in China in general and the partnership with STU in particular, reflects the globalization strategy adopted by the Technion, a move which also led to the launching of the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute in New York City. At the Technion-Guangdong signing ceremony, Prof. Peretz Lavie said, “When you combine the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of Israel with the unbelievable scale of China, you have a great partnership. We believe in globalization and cross-cultural dialogue, and hope that by combining our research methodologies with the scale and resources of China, we will create a major research institute that will help not only China and Israel, but also mankind in general.”

In the Picture: From left to right: Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie; Peking University President, Prof. Enge Wang; Dr. Ru-Qing Zheng, Deputy Director – International Office, Peking University;  Dr. Dongmin Chen, Dean School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Peking University.

Technion and Microsoft launch Internet of Things joint venture, which simulates a startup work environment

Among the first developments: Smartphone control using hand gestures during driving; a guide application for the visually impaired; a musical glove that responds to colors

Today the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, together with Microsoft Israel R&D center, launched a special initiative in a lab for developing software and systems at the Technion’s computer science faculty. The initiative will focus on the field of Internet of Things and will be used by students for developing innovative technologies during their computer science studies.

The physical appearance and technology infrastructure at the lab are designed to resemble the work environment of a startup company, with all the latest computer equipment, including smartphones and tablets for running applications during their development. The clean design lines of lab simulate those of a real high-tech company, and give the students the feel of an authentic development environment of an R&D center or a startup company.

The first course held at the lab was on programming systems in an Arduino environment, under the guidance of Prof. Yossi Gil with support from Microsoft experts. As part of the course, which was designed to challenge the students with independent product building projects, the students designed smart systems combining hardware and software based on Arduino controls, connected to Azure – Microsoft’s cloud. The projects exhibited at the launching of the lab included: a musical glove that responds to color and plays sounds that correspond to various colors; a sensor for using hand gestures to control a telephone during driving; a smartphone application for guiding the visually impaired, and more.

The university is developing the most important resource for Israeli industry,” says Yoram Yaacovi, General Manager of Microsoft R&D Center,

“Highly qualified computer engineers. For this reason it’s important for us to continue initiating projects with Israeli universities, in order to support innovation in academia and to increase the number of graduates who complete their studies each year at the computer science and engineering faculties. Strengthening the ties between academia and industry is vital not only to the universities, but also to industry, which is nurtured by the originality and sharp-mindedness created by Israeli universities year after year. These are the properties that are the growth engine for the Israeli high-tech sector.”

“The course is an incubator for initiative and originality,” says Prof. Yossi Gil, who heads the course. “We give the students the equipment, guidance and tools, in order for them to take the next step. We tell them, ‘You’re talented – surprise us.’”

This endeavor at the computer science faculty is part of the ongoing collaboration between Microsoft’s R&D center and the Technion. In the framework of this collaboration, Microsoft and the Technion have opened an academic research center for ecommerce studies. The lab and the research center are part of U.next – a comprehensive program run by Microsoft’s R&D center, focusing on Israeli academic institutions, students, and researchers. The program includes support for the students, educational programs, research grants, access to Microsoft tools and resources and the hosting of workshops and conferences. The program’s goal is to encourage academic excellence in research and study through leverage of the company’s abilities and resources.

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology research shows for first time inhaled nanoparticles of silicon dioxide increase risk of atherosclerosis; laboratory, manufacturing workers may be at greatest risk.

Nanoparticles, extremely tiny particles measured in billionths of a meter, are increasingly everywhere, and especially in biomedical products. Their toxicity has been researched in general terms, but now a team of Israeli scientists has for the first time found that exposure nanoparticles (NPs) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases when the NP cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system.Their study, published in the December issue of Environmental Toxicology, can be found on-line at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tox.22084/abstract.

The research team was comprised of scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rambam Medical Center, and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH).

“Environmental exposure to nanoparticles is becoming unavoidable due to the rapid expansion of nanotechnology,” says the study’s lead author, Prof. Michael Aviram, of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, “This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry where workers handle, manufacture, use and dispose of nanoparticles. Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses, such as various chips, drug or gene delivery and tracking, imaging, ultrasound therapy, and diagnostics, may also pose an increased cardiovascular risk for consumers as well.”

In this study, researchers exposed cultured laboratory mouse cells resembling the arterial wall cells to NPs of silicon dioxide and investigated the effects. SiO2 NPs are toxic to and have significant adverse effects on macrophages. a type of white blood cell that take up lipids, leading to atherosclerotic lesion development and its consequent cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or  stroke. Macrophages accumulation in the arterial wall under atherogenic conditions such as high cholesterol, triglycerides, oxidative stress – are converted into lipids, or laden “foam cells” which, in turn, accelerate atherosclerosis development.

“Macrophage foam cells accumulation in the arterial wall are a key cell type in the development of atherosclerosis, which is an inflammatory disease” says co-author Dr. Lauren Petrick. “The aims of our study were to gain additional insight into the cardiovascular risk associated with silicon dioxide nanoparticle exposure and discover the mechanisms behind Si02’s induced atherogenic effects on macrophages. We also wanted to use nanoparticles as a model for ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure as cardiovascular disease risk factors.”

Both NPs and UFPs can be inhaled and induce negative biological effects. However, until this study, their effect on the development of atherosclerosis has been largely unknown.  Here, researchers have discovered for the first time that the toxicity of silicon dioxide nanoparticles has a “significant and substantial effect on the accumulation of triglycerides in the macrophages,” at all exposure concentrations analyzed, and that they also “increase oxidative stress and toxicity.”

A recent update from the American Heart Association also suggested that “fine particles” in air pollution leads to elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, more research was needed to examine the role of “ultrafine particles” (which are much smaller than “fine particles”) on atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular risk.

“The number of nano-based consumer products has risen a thousand fold in recent years, with an estimated world market of $3 trillion by the year 2020,” conclude the researchers. “This reality leads to increased human exposure and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems. Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend, steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed.

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is a global community. In this video students and President Prof. Peretz Lavie wish you Happy New Year for 2015 in 14 different languages.
Technion is the place where dreams come true.

In order of appearance:

• Eric Yudin in English – Computer Science
• Johanna Wallin in Swedish – Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Tali Tazazo in Amharic – Electrical Engineering
• Eshhar Tal in Hebrew – Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Efrat Vitchevsky in Russian – Medicine
• Micael Zollmann in Afrikaans – Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Ahmad Omari in Arabic – Energy Program
• Michal Brodeschi in Portuguese – Architecture & Town Planning
• Rashmi Kothari in Hindi – Chemistry
• Wen-Hui Hung in Chinese – Industrial Engineering & Management
• Fred Xie in Chinese – Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Hanqi He in Chinese – Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Davide Schaumann in Italian – Architecture & Town Planning
• Irene Alvarez-Sostres in Spanish – Architecture & Town Planning
• Deborah Cohen in French – Electrical Engineering
• Dr. “Bob” Shillman in English – A Man and a Cat Called Yitz
• Prof. Peretz Lavie in English – Technion President
• Valentin Garbe in German – Electrical Engineering

3-D Printing Technology has opened new possibilities for theoretician, Asst. Prof. Stephan Rudykh, to test his theoretical models of active material properties

Imagine yourself boarding a futuristic morphing airplane made of materials that can repair themselves. While on board, have a look at the photos that the lightweight soft robot took from a narrow space on Mars, where other devices could not reach. Enjoy your noise-free flight with the new materials that selectively cancel acoustic waves. Imagine a material capable of changing its color when stretched. Now picture a radiation-free device that can provide us with a 3-D image of biological tissue at a much higher resolution than an ultrasound image. These are some of the possible applications of the materials being developed by Dr. Stephan Rudykh in his “Soft Composite Materials” Lab.

Rudykh earned his BSc and MSc degrees at the Saint-Petersburg State Polytechnical University, and received his Ph.D. in 2012 from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where he worked with Prof. Gal deBotton. After completing his doctorate, which included spending time at Harvard (with Prof. Bertoldi) and Caltech (with Prof. Bhattacharya) as a visiting graduate student, Rudykh began his postdoc at MIT where he worked with Prof. Mary Boyce in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Upon completing his postdoc (2014) he returned to the Technion; in the meantime, Boyce also left MIT after being offered the position of Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University.

Rudykh arrived to the Technion in July, 2014. “The Technion is very similar to MIT in its scientific culture which conveys to its researchers: ‘If you have an idea – try it out, prove that it can work!’”, he explains, “and this is exactly what I was looking for here.”

“I tried different techniques to realize my ideas – one of these is the now popular 3D printing technology,” explains Rudykh. “I became very excited about this new technology, which allows us to actually manufacture the pre-designed precisely ordered microstructures, and then run the experiments. In a way we are well equipped with the theories and numerical results, and we don’t search for effects blindly – but, frankly, you never know what you will find out. That’s the beauty of experiments”

Our interview was conducted at his new lab in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. On his desk are some of the plastic pieces he printed, based on the theoretical models he developed.  Actually, these are not just any plastic materials but rectangular pieces shaped like a cube, made of transparent or semi-transparent polymer. Each one of these pieces has unique mechanical properties defined by the microstructures.

What makes these materials unique are incredible versatile properties – within the same piece of material, the mechanical and electrical properties vary from one point to the other, depending on the direction where you apply pressure or stretch it out. On the same piece, there are areas that you can press down on and nothing happens, and other points that when applying pressure can cause the bending or elevation of the entire piece of material.

Materials of this sort, known as anisotropic materials, are characterized by changing features, determined according to its point of operation and direction. Paper and wood are examples of such materials: when we want to tear paper cleanly (in a straight line), it is best to rip it along its grain as opposed to against it; and if we try to split a tree trunk with an axe we will run into a similar phenomenon – trying to split the wood by cutting across the trunk will be ineffectual, but by chopping in the direction of the grain the wood splits relatively easily.

Dr. Rudykh is interested in the microstructure design rules observed in Nature – how it is possible to create materials with incredible properties and multifunctionalities with so limited material supply available for nature. “We can do much better – we can combine these design rules learned from biology with our ability to use synthetic materials,” Rudykh says.

One of his current projects is the design of flexible armor inspired by the scale protecting system of fish.  “Our recent results on 3-D printed prototypes show that there is a huge potential for optimization and tailoring the performance of such materials – light-weight armor that will protect almost without restriction of movement.”

In his research and development of anisotropic materials, Rudykh attempts to understand the connection between the microstructures and macroscopic properties, that is, the relationship of its particle structure and its macroscopic properties (what can be seen by the unaided eye). Why is this important? “At the very fundamental level, to understand the relations between the microstructure and macroscopic properties – both in new synthetic materials and in natural materials. Then we will have the access to the bottom-up design of new materials with desirable properties.

For example, we can assume considerable information about the properties of a particular material by the behavior of waves within it, or understand how its conductivity changes as a result of its density.”

“At the level of application, since I am using electro-active materials (materials that

convert electrical energy to mechanical energy and vice versa), I can also change their shape by electrical means, or their electrical properties, by applying pressure or stretching them. The better we understand the relationship between the microstructure of the material and its properties at the macro level, the more we can control the functions we are ‘extracting’ from it –flexibility or strength, electrical charge, or acoustic filtering, even color. In this way, for instance, we can produce a light filter that will transmit or reflect a specific light color, or a ‘wall of sound’ that blocks sound waves it encounters – something we would like to have in soundproof headsets. In fact, this has ushered in a new horizon for soft robotics that can change their shape, and squeeze themselves into a narrow space – they can also be sensors, we can launch these light-weight  multifunctional devices to Mars to explore the planet.”

Rudykh’s research has already received widespread scientific recognition. His work has recently been published in the prestigious scientific journals “Physical Review Letters” (PRL) and “Advanced Engineering Materials,” which featured the discoveries of his research group on the front cover of the November 2014 issue. According to Prof. George Fytas, the head of the polymer group at the University of Crete, this novel study by Boyce and Rudykh proves how well-established theoretical tools can predict new materials behavior.”

Rudykh believes that his theoretical developments, and the subsequent models he prints, will lead to important applications. “For example, since we can learn about the composition of biological tissue by examining the behavior of waves within it, we can perform non-invasive and radiation-free imaging that can be much more precise and detailed in comparison with the ultrasound technology currently available. Indeed, we are just at the beginning of the way, and there are many mysteries that we will need to understand – and we will be happy to see more young people joining us on our journey to the future of materials.”

In the illustration: a novel movement mechanism – a tiny distortion that initiates a large movement. The microstructures determine how the macroscopic properties of the material will react to different environmental stimuli, such as being pressed or stretched. Here we see a variety of responses by different materials to being pushed on.

In the image: Anisotropic materials developed by Asst. Prof. Stephan Rudykh, on the front cover of the scientific journal, “Advanced Engineering Materials” November 2014 edition, Volume 16, Issue 11, courtesy of WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Following the Arava Oil Spill:

A group of Technion students to assist in the restoration efforts of the Arava by treating contaminated soil by biological means (bacteria) 

A group of Technion students travelled to the site of the Arava oil spill in order to examine the possibility of restoring land damage by biodegradation – the breakdown of oil through bacteria.

The Evrona Nature Reserve in the Arava was severely damaged in early December 2014, as a result of an oil pipeline rupture. This event, described as one of the worst ecological disasters in Israel’s history, was caused by a pipeline breach that leaked five million liters of crude oil, which lead to soil contamination and extensive environmental damage. Technion students volunteered to assist in disaster-relief efforts, all of them members of the Ma’alah project (future engineers for the environment).

The Ma’alah project, comprised of over 20 students from different Technion faculties, was founded in January, 2014 in an effort to harness the knowledge gained at the Technion for the betterment of the environment. Young researchers and faculty members from the Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Unit offered to lead the group in the professional aspects of the project. This student initiative is entirely voluntary.

“We reached the affected area and met with people from the Nature and Parks Authority, working to rehabilitate the reserve,” explained uriel klar, a student in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “We were amazed by the intensity of the damage we saw. Rivers in the reserve are still flowing black with numerous oil puddles built up along the shores. Countess animals died as a consequence of the disaster, as well as flora and fauna. This is a photo showing the signs of damage from the spill.”

“Our intention is to restore the land using bacteria capable of digesting oil and thereby reduce the ecological damage. This method has been employed in the past, at major oil spills such as the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. We took several soil samples of the contaminated ground and brought them to the lab at the Technion in order to find a natural microbial population in the soil capable of digesting the oil, using biological cultivation methods and advanced equipment. As part of the test we will take into consideration hydrological, geological and ecological parameters in order to produce a computational model to describe the treatment of the soil.”

The students volunteering on this initiative are operating under the guidance of faculty mentors, Prof. Uri Shavit from the Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Unit, and Assoc. Prof. Sima Yaron from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering.

A Hanukkah special: High-Schoolers from Ort Bialik programmed a robotic trio at the Technion to perform traditional Hanukkah customs: serving doughnuts, pouring oil and lighting candles on the candelabra.

At the Technion’s Center for Robotics and Digital Technology, a group of students figured out an original and special way to celebrate the holiday:  they developed humanoid robots capable of Hanukkah customs: serving doughnuts, pouring oil and lighting candles on the candelabra.

The project, mentored by the Director of the Center Dr. Dan Cuperman, was undertaken by a group of outstanding 10th graders in the science-engineering track at the Ort Bialik High School.

“Once a week we come to the Robotics Center at the Technion for robotics lessons that are about 1.5 hours in length,” said Mor Pikman, a student participating in the program. “The robots we built are programmed to respond to noise, and start operating upon the sound of three hand claps.” Another student, Kfir Lavie, adds, “As part of the program, we developed a special program that makes the robot light Hanukkah candles according to the right order, and then place the candle used for lighting at the spot of the ‘shamash’ (the “attendant” candle). For humans this is a simple task, but for a robot it is quite complex, and required hours of programming work until we were able to accomplish it in the best possible way.”

“The Robotics Center is a meeting place between high-schoolers and university students who are developing and advancing methods for technology education,” said Associate Prof. Igor Verner, the Head of the Center, and the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies and Technology Education at Technion’s Department of Education in Science and Technology. “The goal of the Center is to teach youngsters about technology through the introduction of a robot. The students program and research the operations of a robot, and learn programming language at the Center. The movements of the robots they developed on their own, through studies they conducted
on a robot’s movement operations.”

Photo Credit: Sharon Tsur, The Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office

For more information: Gil Liner, 058-688-2208, Doron Shaham – 050-3109088

Breakthrough Solves Centuries-Old Animal Evolution Mystery

Discovery could also lead to a better understanding of cancer

Most animal embryos contain three layers of cells that transform into every part of the body—from brains to bones to guts. Since the 19th century, biologists have been puzzling over which of these layers came first in animal evolution. We now have the answer, thanks to a powerful 21st-century technology developed at the Technion and deciphering the secrets of evolution may have a side benefit in helping to understand cancer.

Using a method called CEL-Seq that can spy on the activity of every gene within a cell at once, Technion Associate Professor Itai Yanai and his colleagues now provide compelling evidence that the layer called the endoderm evolved first, followed by the ectoderm layer and finally the mesoderm layer.

Yanai has other big plans for CEL-Seq. “We applied this unbelievably powerful tool to figuring out the evolution of the germ layers, a 19th century problem, but it will also be useful in things like cutting-edge cancer research as well,” he said.

Yanai and his colleagues used CEL-Seq to show that genes turned on in the endoderm of a worm embryo are the first to turn on in development, followed by genes turning on in the ectoderm and then mesoderm. They also detected that endoderm genes are older than genes mostly found in the ectoderm and mesoderm.

In their paper published in the December 10 advance online edition of Nature, the researchers argue that the endoderm layer dates back to ancient single-celled organisms that banded together to form the first multicellular animals. Endoderm cells kept up their ancestral feeding function in the new animals, which freed up the other cells to evolve into new layers in the animal.

Understanding how evolution has altered cells in the past can also “reveal to us what is easily changeable and what is not changeable in a cell,” Yanai added. “If a cell goes into a disease state, for instance, we might know more about what we could do to reverse this state and what might be more difficult to reprogram in the cell.”

CEL-Seq was invented at Technion in 2012 by the Yanai lab. Yanai said that one way to envision the method’s power is to consider a single human cell and the 20,000 genes it contains as a room with 20,000 light switches.

“Each room can have a different mood, because we can turn on or turn off those switches in many different ways. This is why cells with the same genes can have many, many different types of behavior,” he explained. “With this method, we can take a given cell and know the position of every switch—whether it’s on or off–and from this infer what functions are going on.”

Currently a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University, Yanai is using the method to study the development of tumors in zebrafish. “For the last ten years I’ve been working on development and evolution, all seen through the eyes of gene expression,” he said, “and I’ve realized that cancer is actually a natural extension of this work since here you also have cells developing and evolving.”

Yanai’s team hasn’t finished unleashing CEL-Seq on other big questions in biology, either. One of their ongoing studies uses the method to look at all the genes in ten vastly different animal species and compare how they are regulated throughout the development of the embryo. “We want to see what makes an animal an animal, what is universal across all of them,” Yanai said.

Homepage Picture:Prof. Itai Yanay and DR. Hashimshony Tamar

Technion Announces Winners of the 2014 Harvey Prize:

James P. Allison and Reinhard Genzel

The 2014 Harvey Prize will be awarded to prominent cancer researcher, Prof. James P. Allison, and leading astrophysicist Prof. Reinhard Genzel.

About 20% of Harvey Prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

The Technion will award the 2014 Harvey Prize in Human Health to Prof. James P. Allison, an immunologist from the University of Texas, and the 2014 Harvey Prize in Science & Technology to Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel (for Science & Technology), an astrophysicist from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The prize, in the amount of $75,000 US, is named after Leo Harvey (1973-1887), and is awarded annually to men and women who have made significant contributions to humanity.

It has been found that about 20% of the prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, among them Dr. Shoji Nakamura, who today is receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics for developing the energy-efficient and environment-friendly light source – the blue light-emitting diode (LED).

Professor James P. Allison, the Chairman of the Department of Immunology at The MD Anderson Cancer Center, will receive the Harvey Prize for developing a new paradigm for cancer treatment and for his theoretical and practical contributions to cancer treatment. The MD Anderson Institute, affiliated with the University of Texas, is ranked as one of the nation’s best hospitals for cancer care in the United States.

Allison, who was born in Texas in 1948, specializes in the field of immunotherapy – treatment by means of strengthening the immune system – particularly in the context of cancer treatment. Allison has a longstanding interest in T cells, which play an important role in the immune system, and his research led him to discover a T-cell inhibitory molecule (known as CTLA-4) which can prevent them from attacking tumors. Following this discovery, Alison developed an antibody to block this inhibitory molecule in the hope that it will enhance anti-tumor immune responses and tumor rejection. His research led to the clinical development of ipilimumab (Yervoy™), which was approved in May 2011 by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Today, Allison investigates possibilities for applying this drug and similar inhibitory drugs-treatments in treating other forms of cancer.

Professor Reinhard Genzel will receive the Harvey Prize in Science and Technology on showing that a black hole exists at the center of the Milky Way (our galaxy). Genzel, who was born in 1952, is a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley and is the Director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. In 2002, Genzel discovered, along with research colleagues in Germany and California, a massive object at the center of the galaxy whose size was smaller than that of the solar system, yet its mass was more than 3 or 4 million than the mass of the sun, in other words, a very massive black hole. This determination was based on the exceptional acceleration of stars surrounding the galactic center. Genzel used innovative optical methods and infrared photography to overcome atmospheric disturbances and particles floating in space.

The Harvey Prize awarded by the Technion was first given in 1972 by the foundation established by Leo M. Harvey (1887-1973) from Los Angeles, in order to recognize significant contributions in the advancement of humankind in the areas of science and technology, human health and peace in the Middle East. The prestigious Harvey Prize has been awarded to scientists from the United States, Britain, Russia, Sweden, France and Israel, among them Nobel Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the USSR, awarded the Harvey Prize in appreciation of his seminal initiatives and policies to lessen regional tensions; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Professor Bert Sakmann; Nobel Laureate in Physics, Professor Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Professor Edward Teller for his discoveries in solid state physics, atomic and nuclear energy; and Professor William J. Kolff  for his invention of the artificial kidney.

The prize ceremony will take place at the Technion on February 17, 2015.

In the photos:  

Prof. James P. Allison – image courtesy of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Prof. Reinhard Genzel – image courtesy of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Ten years ago, on December 10th, 2004, Technion became home to Israel’s 1st Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences. Since then the Technion Nobel legacy has continued, with the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman, and the 2013 Prize in Chemistry awarded to Technion graduate Prof. Arieh Warshel.

Ubiquitin: so called, because it is a protein present in all living cells. No-one knew why it was there, and no-one dared to wonder: it was just boring – “ubiquitous”.

But no living secrets are untouched by Technion scientists.

Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Distinguished Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover unveiled the mysteries of  the ubiquitin system, revealing some masterkeys of human health. The ubiquitous protein ubiquitin, they showed, is the key factor in deciding when and how a cell should regenerate. Imbalance in ubiquitin reveals itself in some of the world’s most incurable afflictions – such as cancer and neuro-degenerative disorders.

By 2004, the Technion research was already revolutionizing medical understanding and opening the way to innovative cures and treatments. No wonder that, in that year, the two Technion Professors became Israel’s first Nobel Laureates in science.

The Ubiquitin Story

In 1975, a protein of unknown function was identified by Dr. Gideon Goldstein which he called Ubiquitin as he thought it was probably ubiquitous to all living cells – turning up everywhere in animal and plant cells and even yeast. Each living cell is made up of many tiny proteins. A protein is a molecule made up of one or more chains of amino acids in a predetermined order. Proteins maintain structure, function and regulation of cells. Each protein has its own unique function – some famous proteins being hormones, enzymes and antibodies.

In the 1970s, protein synthesis was understood, yet the breakdown or destruction of unwanted proteins in cells back to amino acid was still quite a mysterious process.

Over three decades ago, Technion Profs. Hershko and Ciechanover were immersed in ideas as to how to complete our picture of cell regeneration through understanding how proteins are degraded. Working closely with colleague and fellow Nobel Prize Laureate Irwin Rose, then of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, they showed how the small and common protein Ubiquitin attaches to other proteins, and marks them for destruction. Ubiquitin is quite a unique protein, as its task is that of a kind of runner between other proteins, labeling them if necessary for destruction or degradation. “Many knew how the body produces proteins, but not how they were destroyed,” says Hershko. “Without an engine, a car cannot run; without brakes, it is out of control. Proteins provide ways to moderate the body’s machinery.”

At first the three scientists, Hershko, graduate student Ciechanover and U.S. colleague Irwin Rose noticed that Ubiqitin had a way of binding to other proteins – but they didn’t know why. “Hershko used a really simple system in order to make the discovery – just a soup of enzymes and proteins,” colleague John Mayer of Nottingham University told New Scientist. “From this he was able to show the target protein must be “ubiquitinated.”

Sometimes working in tandem, Ubiquitin molecules smartly seek out proteins that are no longer needed, damaged or unhelpful and tag them for degradation, escorting them to a barrel-shaped structure called a proteasome – the cellular recycler. It is a process that cognoscenti call “ubiquitination”. It is a “kiss of death” for protein, which is a “kiss of life” for cells. Later, the scientists identified three types of enzymes involved in the ubiquitination process. The third type – the Ubiquitin protein ligases – is the one that identifies and singles out the target protein. Ligases are the cellular whistle-blowers. The sophisticated process takes place in cells all over the body – it is highly ubiquitous. But at first, few attached the label of “tremendous discovery” to the work.

The Landau Prize for the Sciences and Research to be Awarded to Technion Professor David Gershoni, for his Research Contributions Leading to the Production of Entangled Photons

Prof. David Gershoni, from the Department of Physics at the Technion, will receive the 2014 Michael Landau Prize for Sciences and Research awarded by Mifal Hapais (the Israel State Lottery) enterprise, for his research contributions, which have led to the development of a prototype for producing entangled photon emissions. The Prize Committee noted that “This method is significantly different from its predecessors; its advantage lies in its capability to create multiple devices and thereby generate entangled photons on demand. This has important experimental implications for research in the field of quantum information.”

Prof. Gershoni earned his academic degrees at the Technion. In 1986 (at age 33) he pursued his postdoctoral studies at Bell Laboratories headquarters in New Jersey, and after one short year he was accepted there as a faculty member and engaged in research and development. In 1991 he returned to Israel and the Technion, this time as a faculty member at the Department of Physics.

In 2006, Prof. Gershoni proved the possibility of producing entangled photons (particles of light) from semiconductor sources. Entanglement is a phenomenon whereby two quantum particles behave like physical twins that maintain a quantum correlation: when a characteristic of one of the particles changes, the characteristic of its twin simultaneously changes as well, making it impossible to describe the state of one of the particles separately from the state of the other.

In a joint research study with Prof. Joseph Avron from the Department of Physics at the Technion and doctoral students Nika Akopian and Netanel Lindner, Prof. Gershoni demonstrated – both theoretically and experimentally – that under appropriate conditions, an efficient prototype semiconductor-based light source of nanoscale dimensions produces entangled light. The researchers showed that it is possible to build a device based on such a source, which would be capable of producing entangled photons ‘on demand’ – a significant milestone for quantum communications, quantum information processing,computing, and perhaps even teleportation.

“Spooky action at a distance”

Quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon that first appeared in a 1935 paper authored by Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen (one of the founding fathers of the Physics Department at the Technion) and became known as the EPR paradox (EPR stood for their initials). The paper expressed reservations about Einstein’s accepted formulation of quantum mechanics, which allegedly ‘allows’ for information to travel at light speed. Einstein believed that the ‘possibility’ for such behavior is fictitious, or as he put it: ‘spooky action at a distance.’

Niels Bohr, among the fathers of quantum mechanics, claimed in response to the paper on the EPR paradox that this ‘remote operation’ is actually possible, since it is based not on ‘mechanical impact’, but on the ‘logical effect,’ on the conditions that define the behavior of the system. Einstein then retaliated by describing Bohr’s response as “longwinded Talmudic gibberish.”

In 1962, Irish physicist John Bell, demonstrated that the Einstein-Bohr debate could be resolved experimentally. In research trials conducted in the 70s and 80s, as a result of a mathematical model formulated by Bell, it was scientifically proven that entangled particles are indeed endowed with an exceptional correlation that predicts quantum mechanics. The research by Professors Gershoni and Avron, which is based in part on the theoretical work of a former faculty member, the late Distinguished Professor Asher Peres, led to a breakthrough in this direction.

’In effect, we demonstrated how to develop a device that “shoots” entangled photonic pairs on demand,’ explains Prof. Gershoni. “This discovery is an important milestone bridging current technology (classical) and future technologies (quantum). The current technology, which includes computers, communications, lighting, data storage and processing of information, is based on semiconductors, and this is why our discovery is extremely relevant to the high-tech world. We are developing nano-scale semiconductor structures operating as ‘artificial atoms’ whose behavior may be explained and predicted using quantum mechanics. We believe that this breakthrough will advance the field of quantum information processing, which will form the basis of future technologies. Our research motivation stems also from our hope that technology will follow science and that in the near future we will be able to see a wide use of real quantum technology.”

The Landau Prize for Sciences and Research awarded by Mifal Hapais is bestowed on scientists who have made significant achievements and valuable contributions to the advancement of science and research. The Prize Committee selected Prof. Gershoni as this year’s winner of the Physics award; prize committee members include Professors Dan Shahar, Shmuel Fishman and Ora Entin-Wohlman . Landau prize winners in other categories are: Prof. Dana Wolf (Virology), Prof. Elisha Qimron (Hebrew language research), Prof. Amir Sagi (Agriculture), Prof. Howard Litvin (Gerontology), and Prof. Daniel Hanoch Wagner (Chemical and Materials engineering).

The research is being carried out in collaboration with the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute.

In the photo: Prof. David Gershoni
Photo Credit: The Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office

For additional information: Gil Liner, Technion Spokesperson, 058-688-2208.