hujibites | The Robert H. Smith

Sesame: From Ancient Seed to Modern Crop

Sesame seeds are healthy and tasty, but it’s a very labor-intensive crop, as pods must be picked by hand. As a result, sesame production has left Israel, moving entirely overseas. Now, Idan Sabag is working to bring it back. Together with Prof. Zvi Peleg, he is bringing sesame into modern agriculture, making it better suited for mechanized harvest. Idan Sabag is a doctoral student in the Department of Plant Sciences & Genetics in Agriculture

Medicated Crops

Irrigating with Treated Wastewater

In a world facing increased water shortages, irrigating crops with treated wastewater isn’t just a good idea – it’s a necessity. But what happens when that wastewater contains traces of pharmaceuticals? Dr. Evyatar Ben Mordechay is analyzing how the pharmaceuticals that enter our sewage make their way into the agro-environment, and back into our bodies via crops we consume. Dr. Evyatar Ben Mordechay recently graduated and is now a postdoctoral researcher Department of Soil and Water Sciences.

Salty & Dry: Plants Struggle to Survive

Healthy soil is critical for sustaining life on earth. In fact, every single bite of food starts as a plant growing in the ground. Dr. Yair Mau studies how the basic act of watering crops affects soil salinity, while gaining insights into basic processes that affect soil quality. He also studies how plants cope with environmental stressors posed by climate change. Dr. Yair Mau is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Soil and Water Sciences.

The Problem With Plastic

With less than 10% of the world’s plastic being recycled, Dr. Lianet Noda-Garcia is taking a different approach. Mimicking evolutionary processes in her lab, she’s working to engineer bacteria that are capable of digesting or breaking down plastic.

Ultimately, she hopes to clean up decades worth of plastic debris from our planet. Dr. Lianet Noda-Garcia is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.

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Why the Bitterness?

Mary Poppins may have sung “just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down,” but Eitan Margulis and Lior Peri are taking a healthier approach: masking the bitter taste entirely. Eitan employs computational tools to identify potentially bitter compounds, which Lior tests and analyzes in the lab. Together, they hope to better understand the bitter taste, to make friendlier (and tastier) medication. Eitan Margulis and Lior Peri are doctoral students in the Department of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition.Show less

Surviving a Hotter, Drier World

Gabriel Mulero came all the way to Hebrew University from Nigeria to study the future of food – specifically wheat. His doctoral research employs advanced remote sensing technology, which he uses to gain a glimpse into the inner workings of plants, gaining valuable insights that will ensure an adequate food supply for a warming planet. Gabriel Mulero is a doctoral student in the Department of Soil and Water Sciences at Hebrew University.

The Future of Plants

As the world is changing – how are we protecting nature?

In this HUJI Bite, Dr. Niv DeMalach from the Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture finds the answers in a box. Dr. Demalach places different plants in large containers and examines how they interact. Whether the plant communities become increasingly similar or increasingly diverse indicates how they will behave when faced with diversity in nature. Looking at statistics from around the world, using big data we can better understand how plants thrive in different conditions.

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Environmental Science

On this episode of HUJI Bites, we speak with Dr. Sharoni Shafir, head of the recently established Institute of Environmental Sciences

at The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at The Hebrew University. The Institute works to promote research and teaching in environmental sciences in agriculture – combining the diverse research approaches of the over 40 research laboratories that comprise the institute. Shafir speaks with us about the incredible advancements Israel has made in agriculture - specifically in the study of bee biology at the B. Triwaks Bee Research Center - as well as honoring the memory of the Center’s namesake who fell in battle in Tantura on May 23, 1948.

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More to Mosquitoes

Did you know that there is more to Mosquitoes than their stinger? Their sense of smell can actually help us!

And no one "nose" them better then Hebrew University Assistant Professor of Entomology, Dr. Jonathan Bohbot. On this episode of HUJI Bites, we get a taste of the science behind mosquitoes and the fascinating research taking place in Bohbot's lab at The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at The Hebrew University.

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Irrigating with Treated Wastewater