Covid-19 pandemic - a boon for digital tourism startups
15 August, 2021
Faculty graduates create "Hop A Tour" - where visitors can find live virtual tours led by world-class tour guides.
All the News
UAE Minister Meets Experts at Faculty of Agriculture
19 July, 2021
FACING CLIMATE CHANGE TOGETHER:
UAE Minister of Food and Water Security
Meets Agtech and Foodtech Experts at Faculty of Agriculture
How Does a Potato Feel?
25 May, 2021
Ever Wonder What A Potato Feels…?
Hebrew U. Develops Bio-Sensor to Detect Early Signs of Plant Stress
and Prevent Crop Failures from Worldwide Climate Changes
In an effort to increase agricultural productivity and limit waste, a team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment developed a method to detect signs of stress before the plant is damaged.
GCCR COVID-19 Smell and Taste Survey
11 May, 2020
Hello!
The GCCR (GLOBAL CONSORTIUM FOR CHEMOSENSORY RESEARCH) is a group of 600 scientists, clinicians, and patient advocates across 50 countries founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our goal is to collect evidence-based information to combat the spread of COVID-19.
For more information about this study, please contact Masha Niv (masha.niv@mail.huji.ac.il)
2019 Diabetes Research Center Annual Meeting
29 March, 2019
Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathology of chronic metabolic diseases associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In the last decade, tremendous progress has been made in understanding the mitochondrial structure, function and their physiology in metabolic syndromes such as diabetes, obesity, stroke, hypertension, liver and heart diseases.
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Furthermore, progress has also been made in developing therapeutic strategies, including lifestyle interventions, pharmacological strategies and mitochondria-targeted approaches.
These strategies are mainly focused to reduce mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress and to maintain mitochondrial quality in metabolic syndromes.
The purpose of this meeting was to highlight the recent progress on the mitochondrial role in metabolic diseases, to understand the molecular basis for optimal mitochondrial function or mechanisms of dysfunction and finally correlate them with diabetes.
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Chickpeas: Food of the Future
12 June, 2018
Hold the Steak; Chickpeas Are the Food of the Future
Hummus – a world-famous mashed chickpea dish – is one of the most popular foods in Israel, and one whose true origins are hotly debated across the Middle East. It is said that this foodstuff was first made in Egypt, where there are recipes dating back as far as the 13th century. Prof. Ram Reifen, a Hebrew University Medical Faculty graduate, pediatrician and an expert in children’s nutrition and digestive diseases, has devoted more than 15 years of research to this field. He created ChickP, a powder comprised of 60% to 90% from which milk- and meat-substitutes will be manufactured, along with high-protein energy snacks, beverages and more.
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ChickP is also a safe and better alternative to soy protein – which contains phytoestrogens – and peas, both of which trigger allergic reactions in many people. Concentrated chickpea protein can actually lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
For his breakthrough, Reifen will receive, during the university’s board of governors meetings, a Kaye Innovation Award.
Prof. Ram Reifen, director of the research center for nutrigenomics and functional foods at the faculty’s School of Nutritional Sciences, has found a revolutionary new way to use these humble legumes that is likely to benefit the whole world.
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/109303/hold-the-steak-chickpeas-are-the-foo...
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Partnership with College of ACES Illinois
15 August, 2018
The aim of the visit was to identify opportunities and strengthen collaborations to increase the effectiveness of agricultural practices and food processing; to identify potential industry partners; and to explore opportunities for shared student experiences that can lead to industry connections and eventual full-time employment.
Faculty Team Wins at iGem
4 November, 2018
One year ago, to the week, a group of driven students came to us with a exciting idea- they wanted to represent the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at iGEM- the worlds biggest synthetic biology competition.
After a year of hard work the results are in. Of over 300 teams our students' work was nominated for best software tool, won second place in the environmental project category, and won the best plant synthetic biology award!!
Congratulations to our winners who's achievements have made us very proud.
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Modern, nutritious manna printed in 3D
Faculty scientists Professors Ido Braslavsky and Oded Shoseyov develop technique to print food according to pre-defined criteria in a process that will serve a variety of special-needs populations.
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New tool predicts which compounds taste bitter
Journal club article in PNAS about BitterPredict, a machine learning tool that predicts whether a chemical tastes bitter. BitterPredict was developed by members of Prof Masha Niv's lab.
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The Man Reinventing Nature
Oded Shoseyov - The Man Reinventing Nature
Article in 52 Insights, a web periodical which "publish(es) a simple, concise interview with one unique and engaging individual or collective each week."
Oded Shoseyov has arguably one of the most unique jobs in the world. A nano-biotechnologist, he is tasked with mining nature for its most adaptive and essential qualities, utilising them for human and industrial purposes.
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Wild Emmer Wheat Sequenced
The genome sequence of wild emmer wheat was determined by an international group of scientists headed by Dr Assaf Distelfeld. Wild Emmer wheat is the original form of nearly all the domesticated wheat in the world, including durum (pasta) and bread wheat. Wild emmer is too low-yielding to be of use to farmers today, but it contains many attractive characteristics that are being used by plant breeders to improve wheat.
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The study was led by Dr. Assaf Distelfeld of Tel Aviv University’s School of Plant Sciences and Food Security and Institute for Cereal Crops Improvement, in collaboration with several dozen scientists from institutions around the world and an Israel-based company, NRGene, which developed the bioinformatics technology that accelerated the research.
Dr Zvi Peleg of the Faculty's Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics took part in the research.
Dr Distelfeld and Dr Gil Ronen began their careers with studies at the Faculty.
Our congratulations to all!
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Fighting Back Against Superbugs
A unique antibiotic that can kill bacteria that are resistant to conventional antibacterials without damaging the cells that store them has been developed by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The pioneering study was carried out by Dr. Zvi Hayouka and colleagues.
Genetic treatment for day-blindness
Prof. Ron Ofri discovered natural day-blindness in sheep and together with colleagues developed a genetic treatment for a similar type of day-blindness in humans. Prof. Ofri recently received a prize for his research from the Hebrew University. Nature published a "Careers" feature on Prof. Ofri in the May 25th issue.
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Dr Idan Efroni chosen as HHMI Scholar
Dr idan Efroni, of the Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, was chosen as one of forty-one scientists from 16 countries as an International Research Scholar by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, to early-career scientists poised to advance biomedical research across the globe.
Idan Efroni is unraveling the mystery of plants’ impressive regenerative abilities. He uses tomatoes to study adventitious root meristems, which house stem cells that help form roots with stems or leaves. Insight into this process might reveal clues about tissue regeneration in other organisms, and help scientists boost plant production for agriculture.
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The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to develop scientific talent around the world, and will award a total of nearly $26.7 million to this group of scholars. Each researcher will receive a total of $650,000 over five years. The award is a big boon for scientists early in their careers, and offers the freedom to pursue new research directions and creative projects that could develop into top-notch scientific programs.
“This is an outstanding group of scientists who will push biomedical research forward worldwide, and we are thrilled to support them alongside our philanthropic partners,” said David Clapham, HHMI’s Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer.
The scientists selected as International Research Scholars represent a diverse array of scientific disciplines and geographic locations. Scholars hail from research organizations and institutions from across the world, from Tanzania to Cambodia to Chile to Austria. Their research covers a broad variety of biological and medical research areas too, including neuroscience, genetics, biophysics, computational biology, and parasitology.
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