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Boker Tachtit in the Negev is a crucial archaeological site for studying the spread of Homo sapiens out of Africa and the subsequent demise of Neanderthals. Using techniques so sophisticated that they can date grains of sand, Weizmann’s Prof. Elisabetta Boaretto and colleagues have shown that previous dating of the site was incorrect – and that early humans and Neanderthals cohabitated at the site.

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A co-investigator on NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter, Prof. Yohai Kaspi and his team have made discoveries about the gas giant’s climate: Each pole has several Australia-sized cyclones that rarely change their size, number, or position because massive polar storms keep them at bay, and strong jet streams won’t let them form below a certain latitude.

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To date, place cells have been studied in mammals in small spaces. How do we navigate large ones? Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky and team studied bats navigating a 200-m-long tunnel – and discovered a novel neuronal code for spatial perception. The work showed that place cells behave completely differently when navigating very large spaces.

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Scientists at the Weizmann Institute and the Israel Institute for Biological, Chemical and Environmental Sciences took a novel tack to investigating SARS-CoV-2’s powerful ability to infect, finding that the virus deploys an apparently unique three-pronged strategy to take over the cell’s protein-synthesis abilities. The work could help develop effective Covid-19 treatments.

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The Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Ofer Yizhar and colleagues used mosquito rhodopsins to create an optogenetics tool that is more precise, selective, and controllable than current techniques. In addition to increasing our understanding of the brain and advancing the field of optogenetics, the technology could lead to improved therapies for neurological and psychiatric conditions.

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Prof. Ilan Koren at the Weizmann Institute and Dr. Eitan Hirsch have identified another impact of Australia’s massive wildfires: smoke particles from the country’s southeast actually reached the stratosphere. They then traveled on a steady current that carried them around the world, covering and lingering above much of the Southern Hemisphere.

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The Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Yardena Samuels, Prof. Eran Segal, and Dr. Ravid Straussman, with partners at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the NCI, and elsewhere, have discovered that the bacteria living inside cancer cells can be harnessed to provoke an immune reaction against the tumor. The work could also help explain findings showing that the microbiome affects the success of immunotherapy.

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In a first, the Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Jacob Hanna and his group have grown mouse embryos in an artificial uterus. The feat allows scientists to study the early stages of development, with potential implications that include understanding why implantations fail and the gestational conditions behind developmental disorders, as well as reduced need for laboratory animals.

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Weizmann Institute scientists analyzed around six million blood tests to obtain data on several types of hormones, discovering that some peak in winter/spring and others in summer. Peaks in stress or reproductive hormones may have “evolved to help us cope with seasonal changes in our surrounding environment.”

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Chronic stress can lead to or advance a number of diseases as the stress axis is continually activated. In a first, Prof. Alon Chen’s lab has revealed the entire stress axis, mapping it to the gene expression pattern of individual cells. The findings may lead to treatments for conditions such as metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and depression and anxiety.

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The Weizmann Institute's Prof. Ron Milo has shown that the mass of materials humans produce is now equal to that of all living things on Earth – and we're doubling that rate every 20 years. He warns that we are at the crossover point and must all “take responsibility.”

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Melanoma is skilled at evading therapies, with its cells going so far as to starve in order to stop the immune cells that would eradicate them. A team from the Weizmann Institute, including Prof. Yardena Samuels; the Netherlands Cancer Institute; and the University of Oslo have revealed one of melanoma's tricks - never before seen in human cells - and a therapeutic target.

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Prof. Rotem Sorek’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science has revealed the role retrons play in bacteria, finding that the hybrid structures are immune system guards that ensure the bacteria’s survival when it is infected by viruses. In addition, the team hopes that newly identified retrons will improve genome-editing tools.

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Liver failure – often due to acetaminophen overdose – is fatal in 80% of cases. The labs of Profs. Ido Amit and Eran Elinav discovered three liver-cell subsets that contribute to disease progression, and found that depleting the microbiome acts on those subsets to reduce liver damage and increase survival rates. The research may lead to treatments for liver failure.

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Dr. Felipe Natalio and colleagues, studying flint tools from Qesem Cave, found that ancient humans first exposed the flint to different fire temperatures, depending on the type of tool desired. The discovery was made by a team using very modern tools, such as machine learning and spectroscopy.

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Pregnant mice typically miscarry when exposed to the odor of a male who did not father their pups. Weizmann research provides evidence that the same effect occurs in women with unexplained repeated pregnancy loss (uRPL), who apparently process messages about male body odor differently. This could help identify causes and prevention of uRPL.

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The two institutions have signed an MoU to collaborate on advancing AI, including through exchange programs, conferences and seminars, sharing of computing resources, and establishment of a joint virtual AI institute. The partnership is enabled by the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE.

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The Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Institute for Biological Research took a new approach to fighting COVID: tracing the contacts between the virus’s genetic material and the cells’ protein-producing machinery. This could lead to better diagnostics and new treatments, as well as help clarify why COVID is so skilled in the process of infection.

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A study led by Prof. Mike Fainzilber identifies a potential new approach to treating chronic pain: targeting an importin molecule that moves pain messages into nerve cell nuclei. The team can now “conduct screens for new and better drug molecules that can precisely target this chain of events in the sensory neurons.”

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Prof. Ido Amit and his team’s INs-seq technology allows them to see inside tens of thousands of individual cells, at once, in unprecedented detail. The group has already used the method to identify a new subset of cancer-supporting immune cells that, when blocked in mice, boosted the anti-tumor immune response and killed the cancer.