The Technion’s story has been intertwined with Israel’s for more than a century, from laying the foundations for a new nation to shaping its future.
American-Israeli startup PhaseV is on a mission to overcome one of the most significant challenges of drug development: the clinical trial phase, the longest and most expensive part of the process. A recent Deloitte report reveals that, on average, a single new drug takes $2.3 billion and seven years to develop. Yet many candidates fail the clinical phase even if the biology works. That makes for a poor return on investment and wasted potential for treating diseases. “The development process for new drugs must therefore be transformed and could be made much more efficient with digital technologies,” the report urges.
We interview Sandhya Sriram (SS) from Shiok Meats, Shulamit Levenberg (SL) from the Technion and Aleph Farms and Timothy Olsen (TO) from Merck on the current status, challenges and future directions of cultured meat. SS: Shiok Meats, established in 2018, is a cultivated, cell-based meat and seafood company, headquartered in Singapore. It is the first of its kind in Singapore and South-East Asia with a mission to bring delicious, sustainable and healthy shrimp, lobster, crab and meats to your table, by harvesting from cells instead of animals. Our meats are animal-, health- and environment-friendly with similar taste and texture compared to…
Supermarkets could soon be selling yogurts, milkshake powders and other products offering relief to the millions of people who have Crohn’s disease or colitis. An Israeli startup is preparing for clinical trials of a natural supplement derived from cow milk that will reduce inflammation – and reduce patients’ reliance on prescription medication. Scientists now know that mothers’ milk contains exosomes, tiny capsules of microRNA — the molecules that regulate protein production in their bodies – that combat inflammation and other symptoms associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn’s and colitis.
A new app has created a virtual sisterhood for thousands of women across Israel, giving them a safe space to share their experiences, their problems and even just their thoughts – particularly in wartime. The Soli app allows users to anonymously express their state of mind and their feelings, called Moods on the app, ranging from common emotions like happy, stressed or lonely to more specific sentiments such as “in the mood for a night out,” “looking for new friends” and “in need of advice.” Opening the app takes the user to a map, where they see other users and their Moods,…
An Israeli startup that uses artificial intelligence to help manage treatment courses for diabetics has received a fifth clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its endo.digital platform. The new FDA clearance allows DreaMed to expand the scope of its recommended care plans for diabetics on a fixed regimen of insulin doses that are administered via pump or injection. The endo.digital platform provides an automated total care plan for people with diabetes. The company says it is compatible with most devices used by diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels and to administer insulin.
VR headsets loaded with software aimed to calm anxiety, stress and PTSD, as well as a handheld anxiety-reducing device, are on their way to Israeli citizens as a gift from their manufacturers to help alleviate emotional suffering during wartime. XRHealth, headquartered in Boston with R&D in Tel Aviv, has been distributing hundreds of its headsets to patients in 30 hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and mental health centers throughout Israel. XRHealth’s Patient Xperience software guides patients in meditation, self-relaxation, and stress and anxiety relief in 53 different virtual-reality environments.
For almost two decades, agriculturalists around the world have been sounding the alarm about the global disappearance of entire bee colonies, a vital link in the food chain whose absence is threatening the world’s food supply. Scientists have determined that one of the primary causes of colony collapse disorder (CCD) is the Varroa mite, a pest that attaches itself to bees as they develop in their cocoons and feeds on them, transmits viruses to them and can even kill them. Israeli startup ToBe has developed a device that releases precise amounts of miticides in beehives to rid them of these parasites without…
A visit to the bakery usually involves temptation by cupcakes or pastries in enticing hues of orange, pink and purple. What if we could create those vibrant shades of sweet treats without artificial additives and as naturally as bread rises? Israeli startup Phytolon (a combination of phyto, the Greek word for plant, and lon, Arabic for color) has developed strains of baker’s yeast that can produce 75 percent of the colors used in the food industry – including shades of orange, red, pink and purple. The startup’s yeast produces the betalain pigments that are naturally found in bright red beetroot, sunny yellow cactus fruit and…
“When you look at electricity production, you realize renewable energy has already arrived,” Yonadav Buber tells ISRAEL21c. “The cost of renewable energy production is already competing with that of coal and natural gas. The only reason we haven’t yet become dependent on renewable energy is that it works whenever it wants – you can’t turn on the sun at night or make the wind blow.” There are lots of companies examining ways to store renewable energy to make it more available. “But I always think that the simplest solution is also the best one,” Buber says.
An Israeli startup has bioengineered milk protein to create a wide range of dairy products – using mushrooms and no cows. And, the company says, their products are healthier, greener and cheaper to create. Haifa-based ImaginDairy uses freely available DNA codes for milk proteins to recreate their DNA, the company’s CEO and co-founder Eyal Afergan tells NoCamels. The data is even available on the website of the US government’s National Center for Biotechnology Information. There are two major proteins in milk – whey and casein, Afergan explains. These proteins are present in every single milk-based food. Casein makes up about 80 percent…
Moshe, a computer programmer who suffers from a life-long stutter, tried every kind of treatment to ease the jaw spasms, severe facial twitches and feelings of suffocation he experienced whenever he spoke. But every time he’d step out of a clinic or treatment center, he had no way of preserving the methods he had just been taught to manage his condition. That’s when he decided to use his technological skills to develop an algorithm capable of analyzing and monitoring his speech to ensure he was practicing these various stuttering techniques correctly. Six years later, he joined forces with speech language…
Several years ago, amateur athlete Hemi Re’em was shocked to discover that his coronary arteries were 90 percent blocked despite his seemingly good health. This set him on a path to cofounding Yopi Technologies. Yopi (Your Online Personal Instructor) is a first-of-its-kind, AI-based wearable device that monitors oxygen consumption through electrolytes in the sweat. The goal is to detect heart deterioration and measure overall wellness.