Israeli conservationists crowdfund to save endangered species
January 1 2018
Yellow-tailed woolly monkey is an endangered species
The multinational This-is-My-Earth.org (TiME), led by Israeli conservation biologist Prof. Uri Shanas and Israeli environmental activist Prof. Alon Tal, allows anyone to help save endangered species by donating as little as $1 toward a crowdfund to purchase and protect land in biodiversity hotspots.
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Donors vote on where the money will go – mostly tropical areas such as the Peruvian Andes, where a successful campaign enabled TiME to purchase and protect two parcels of land as we reported in January 2018.
“TiME is becoming more and more popular in schools where kids learn with the TiME educational program conservation, geography, language, social sciences and disscuss issues such as democracy, equity, responsibility and activism,” says Shanas. TiME is now collecting funds toward buying a parcel of land in Belize.
High-tech paint uses the sun’s rays to cool buildings
January 16 2018
The nanotech paint can turn hot sunshine into cool air-conditioning
Herzliya-based SolCold has developed a potentially game-changing paint that uses the rays of the sun to activate a cooling mechanism, providing air conditioning without electricity. The double-layered coating uses nanotech to absorb the hot rays of the sun and re-emit the energy in the form of cold. The hotter the solar radiation, the more the coating cools down, making it an electricity-free solution for sunny climates, and usable anywhere from malls to homes, offices, cars, planes, chicken coops, hothouses – you name it. Trials are on their way. The paint could decrease electricity consumption by up to 60 percent, according to SolCold.
Noninvasive treatments for pelvic prolapse
January 24 2018
POP Medical Solutions developed the NeuGuide solution in response to mounting calls across the world to ban the controversial use of transvaginal mesh to treat the painful and debilitating condition. POP Medical and Escala Medical, another Israeli company developing a minimally invasive POP solution, could revolutionize this $1 billion medical market.
One drug for a variety of incurable diseases
February 11 2018
Readers were amazed by our February story about Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School Prof. David Naor, who’s developing one drug that shows promise in its ability to treat a host of incurable inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis as well as neurodegenerative maladies such as Alzheimer’s disease. If he can raise the money for human trials, his novel peptide could prove to be a game-changer.
Special plastic wheelchairs distributed to needy children
February 22 2018
Cap: Israeli Wheelchairs of Hope donated in South Africa. Photo: courtesy
In February, their colorful, lightweight, inexpensive, low-maintenance Wheelchairs of Hope, sized specifically for kids, were donated in South Africa. Additional chairs have been distributed through Israeli government agencies and various partner organizations to needy disabled children in Vietnam, Peru, Tajikistan, Argentina and Guatemala.
Israeli experts step in to help community leaders after Parkland school shooting
March 7 2018
Yotam Dagan leading an Israel Trauma Coalition workshop in Florida. Photo: courtesy
Throughout 2018, the Israeli specialists in trauma response continued to offer resiliency training workshops for community leaders in Houston, after last year’s devastating Hurricane Harvey. They also flew to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the wake of the shooting at the synagogue which killed 11 on October 27, to provide training. Israeli aid organizations ZAKA Search and Rescue, United Hatzalah Psychotrauma & Crisis Unit, and Dream Doctors also provided assistance in Pittsburgh.
Automated handwashing stations for Indian children
March 21 2018
Children in areas of India without running water suffer from poor hygiene and are susceptible to diseases that could be prevented with simple handwashing. In March we were happy to report that many of these kids are now able to clean their hands properly thanks to off-grid, solar-powered, self-sustaining hygiene stations invented by Israeli social-impact startup Soapy.
The machine starts automatically when someone approaches, producing a precis dose of soap along with water harvested from the air. The unit operates 24/7 and provides more than 600 washing cycles from 100 liters of water. The scale-up possibilities of this one technology are astounding.
Children in Bagepalli, India, using a Soapy Station. Photo: courtesy
No-prep alternative to colonoscopy wins CE approval
March 27 2018
Colonoscopies can detect early colon cancer and save lives, but the preparation and procedure are so unpleasant that many people choose to avoid this screening test. In March, we reported on a noninvasive alternative that won CE approval in Europe and has since been approved for a pilot study in the United States.
Check-Cap’s C-Scan ingestible x-ray capsule – requiring no laxative preparation — passively collects data enabling generation of 2D and 3D maps of the colon before the capsule is eliminated naturally. Physicians look at the maps on a clinical data viewer to identify any abnormalities needing further examination.
Israeli medical NGO wins UN Population Award
April 5 2018
Later in the year, another Israeli humanitarian organization, IsraAID, received the 2018 German Chancellor’s Integration Award in recognition of its Brückenbau (“Bridge Building”) project providing psychological support in Arabic for at-risk refugee women and victims of gender-based violence living in German shelters and training and counseling for shelter staff.
Israeli brain researcher developing vaccine against Alzheimer’s
April 16 2018
Eitan Okun, Alzheimer’s disease researcher at Bar-Ilan University. Photo: courtesy
In April, we published a story on Israeli brain researcher Prof. Eitan Okun that sparked a great deal of interest from readers all over the world.
Okun is developing a vaccine against the degenerative brain disease, Alzheimer’s, which affects some 47 million people worldwide. His vaccine primes the body to attack amyloid beta protein accumulations in the brain, one of the signature signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Experiments on mice have been promising, and Okun is now preparing to design human trials on people at known risk of developing the disease.
Medical cannabis could be the next big cure-all
April 18 2018
Frutarom’s $7.1 billion acquisition, second largest in Israel’s history
May 7 2018
Frutarom
In August, beverage and snack giant PepsiCo purchased Israeli company SodaStream for $3.2 billion. SodaStream makes home beverage carbonation systems sold in 46 countries.
Israel wins the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Toy’
May 13 2018
Nothing could stop the joy for Israelis when Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision song contest in Lisbon. It was Israel’s first win in 20 years. The celebrations were long and widespread, and even the subsequent arguments about where next year’s Eurovision will be held (Tel Aviv was finally chosen) did nothing to diminish the triumph. What made Barzilai so special is that her song, “Toy,” had such a strong feminist tone – capturing the zeitgeist of the #MeToo movement — and that she was such a different role model – smart, sassy and proud.
Israel has had two wins in a row before, so who knows what next year’s Eurovision in Tel Aviv may bring.
3D bioprinted lungs to be available for global transplant
In June we brought you the amazing story of CollPlant and Hebrew University Prof. Oded Shoseyov, who has parlayed his groundbreaking research in protein engineering and nano-biotechnology into a dozen commercial enterprises.
Among the products spun off from his fertile mind are a machine to 4D-print plant-based meals; plant-derived human collagen for regenerative medicine; advanced paper packaging; therapeutic antibodies; and a technology that turns poop into sterile, odorless powdered fertilizer.
Shoseyov’s Collplant inked a licensing and commercialization deal with major American biotech firm United Therapeutics Corporation in November to make 3D bioprinted lungs, the news exploded across the Internet. The 3D printed lungs, to be created using the combined technologies of the two companies, are planned for lung transplant surgeries anywhere in the world. If all goes well, three additional organs will follow, in a development that could completely transform the way we approach organ transplant.
Israel pours out its heart to Syrian war victims
July 3 2018
An Israeli soldier cradling a child at the Israeli field hospital near the Syrian border Photo courtesy of IDF Spokesman’s Office
For more than five years, the Israel Defense Forces worked together with official and grassroots organizations and hospitals to provide many forms of relief to Syrian victims of the brutal civil war just over the Israeli border.
The situation became desperate in July as Assad’s army was forcing more and more Syrians from their homes to refugee camps on Israel’s doorstep, and Israel accordingly stepped up its efforts to provide Israeli medical care, food, clothing, shelter and other material goods to civilians — mainly women and children — from this enemy country, often at great expense and personal risk.
Israeli tech helps rescuers save Thai teens trapped in cave
July 4 2018
It was the rescue that transfixed the world. Twelve teenagers and their soccer coach became trapped in a cave in Thailand for 17 days after flash flooding. Israeli company Maxtech Networks sent advanced mobile communications technology to rescue teams in Thailand, enabling navy divers to communicate deep into the heart of the 10-kilometer-long cave system. It was a vital piece of equipment that helped make the extraordinary and daring rescue of the boys a complete success.
Designer protein launched that provides sweetness without diabetes risks
July 30 2018
Thaumatin, found in the katemfe
In July, we looked at how Israel’s Amai Proteins is engineering a non-GMO “designer protein” that tastes as sweet as sugar but doesn’t raise blood sugar or insulin levels, doesn’t cause obesity and doesn’t harm the liver, kidneys or microbiome as sugar can.
“The world is spending huge amounts of money to cure disease,” says founder Ilan Samish. “But we’re not focusing on curing the food that’s causing the disease. We need to cure the food rather than cure the disease.” Could Amai Proteins’ future product cure the world’s sugar addiction with a safe alternative?
Israeli startups develop blood testing without injections
August 13 2018
Imagine having your blood tested without those blood-drawing needles we all hate. And imagine the results appearing within minutes, without sending any samples to labs.
In August, we reported how Israeli startups Engineering for All (EfA), Sonorapy and Sight Diagnostics are working toward make this fantasy a reality with novel approaches to automated, noninvasive blood testing – using technologies such as opto-mechanics, electrochemistry, bioengineering, soundwave sensors, and machine vision.
Sight Diagnostics reported closing a $28 million funding round in December.
Two startups develop revolutionary technologies to treat vision problems
August 20 2018
Corrective eye drops could become an attractive alternative to glasses, contact lenses and laser surgery, thanks to two Israeli startups determined to radically alter the way people improve their vision.
Readers were very interested in learning that Orasis Pharmaceuticals is developing pharmaceutical-grade eye drops intended to improve near vision for several hours; and Nano-Drops is developing a solution to correct all refractive errors – farsightedness, nearsightedness and astigmatism – using synthetic biocompatible protein nanoparticle eye drops applied in an individualized optical pattern stamped onto the cornea with fast, painless laser pulses.
Medical equipment giant adopts Israeli tool for brain surgeons
September 4 2018
Avi Yaron, founder of Visionsense. Photo: courtesy
Our September in-depth look at Visionsense’s VSiii camera system explained that it contains a small silicon chip and software algorithms mimicking an insect’s stereoscopic eyes, creating 3D vision capabilities never before available. The result: more straightforward, safer surgeries and greatly reduced recovery time.
Research suggestions probiotics are not necessarily helping our health
September 16 2018
We reported in September on new evidence that probiotics – preparations containing live bacteria meant to fortify disease resistance or repair damaging effects of antibiotics – aren’t universally beneficial.
A pair of studies by Israeli scientists reveals that probiotics are effective for some people and not for others, and shouldn’t be a “one size fits all” supplement but rather tailored to each individual.
Israeli advances in the prevention, understanding and treatment of obesity
October 11 2018
For World Obesity Day on October 11, ISRAEL21c looked at 10 Israeli innovations contributing to preventing, understanding and treating obesity, one of the biggest killers of the modern world due to the diseases it causes. Among them are a drug that melts body fat and a nasal insert that curbs appetite.
Israeli emergency response team brings aid to Florida after Hurricane Michael
October 14 2018
There’s probably no such thing as a quiet year for Israeli humanitarian aid organization, IsraAID. All year, every year, the NGO’s teams can be found in locations all over the world helping both with emergency response and with rebuilding communities after some of the globe’s deadliest natural disasters.
This year was no exception. In October, the NGO sent an emergency response team to Florida, after the devastating Hurricane Michael made landfall, destroying homes and buildings across the state. The same month the organization flew to North Carolina, after Hurricane Florence.
In May, IsraAID sent a team of American pediatricians to Kenya. In June, an aid team flew to Guatemala, after a deadly volcano. In July, the organization sent teams to help after floods in Japan, and in August, IsraAID volunteers were helping out after more floods in India.
IsraAID also sent emergency response teams to the Philippines and Indonesia, still has teams working in Puerto Rico and Texas, a year after last year’s Hurricanes Harvey and Maria. And, of course, it sent another team out to California to help survivors of the devastating November wildfires.
Oh, and in October IsraAID also won an award from Germany’s Amanda Merkel for its continuing work with refugees in Europe.
Israeli-Aussie company unveils new tech to power cars with water
November 8 2018
How the Electriq-Global system works. Image: courtesy
Aside from being safe and easy to transport, according to the company, the new technology offers greater range and faster fill-ups than lithium-ion-based electric cars. It should also cost only half of what consumers pay for unleaded gas. Don’t rush out looking for the technology just yet though; the first vehicles to get this tech will be demonstrated in 2020, and full commercialization is expected in 2022.
Researchers invent personalized implants that the body won’t reject
November 14 2018
November brought the astonishing news that Israeli researchers have invented the first system for engineering fully personalized tissue implants from a patient’s own small fatty tissue biopsy. It does not provoke an immune response as does implanted tissue of plant or animal origin and ensures proper regeneration of the defected organ.
The researchers are currently working on regenerating an injured spinal cord and an infarcted heart with spinal-cord and cardiac implants, and are investigating human dopaminergic implants to treat Parkinson’s disease in animal models. They plan to regenerate other organs, including intestines and eyes, in the same way.
Israeli researchers announce promising possible treatment for incurable brain cancer
November 19 2018
Student Maxim Mogilevsky and Prof. Rotem Karni in the Institute for Medical Research-Israel Canada lab. Photo by Polina Denichenko courtesy of Hebrew University
Israeli tech helps California fire rescuers drink water pulled from air
November 26 2018
A victim of Hurricane Michael in Florida receiving water from a Watergen unit, October 2018. Photo courtesy of Watergen USA
Israeli HomeBiogas Converts Toilet Waste Into Cooking Fuel For $1 Per Day
In December, we reported on a new HomeBiogas invention, the bio-toilet that feeds directly into a backyard biodigester to create household energy.
Millions of people around the world lack sewage lines and even basic lavatories, but the HomeBiogas Bio-Toilet does not need regular connections. Instead, users flush the toilet with a manual pump using just 1.2 liters of graywater. The waste is flushed directly into the HomeBiogas solar biodigester, where it is broken down by bacteria and transformed into biogas for household needs, along with other waste such as food scraps and animal manure.
While compost toilets can require manual emptying and can attract pests, the HomeBiogas system is completely sealed and there’s no need to have any direct contact or hand-remove waste.
Migraine sufferers get a boost with pain relief promise
December 5 2018
For many people, migraines – those severe headaches that lay you flat – are the bane of their lives. There’s no cure for them, and over-the-counter pain relief medicines don’t always do the trick. That’s why our readers got so excited in December when we brought them news about a new Israeli neuro-modulation device that stimulates nerve branches in the brain that regulate pain and mood. The rechargeable device, called Neurolief, may look like something out of Star Trek, but studies of the product show an 80 percent reduction in pain symptoms – double the rate of implanted devices. The new device is likely to retail for less than $500, but it will take a while longer before it hits the market.
Bar Ilan University study named one of top 25 research studies of 2018
December 21 2018
