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December 01-31, 2016
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Date:18SundayDecember 2016Lecture
The non-receptor tyrosine kinase c-Abl controls genomic integrity by coordinating the cell cycle with the DNA damage response
More information Time 13:00Location Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Vicky Meltzer
Yosef Shaul's group, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, WISOrganizer Department of Molecular GeneticsContact -
Date:18SundayDecember 2016Academic Events
2016 Weizmann Memorial Lectures
More information Time 15:00 - 17:00Title Symmetry Protected Topological Semimetals and InsulatorsLocation David Lopatie Conference Centre
Kimmel AuditoriumLecturer Prof. Charles KaneContact -
Date:18SundayDecember 2016Lecture
The contribution of amino -acid metabolism to carcinogenesis
More information Time 15:00 - 16:00Location
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Dr. Ayelet Erez
Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of ScienceOrganizer Life Sciences
Metabollic Research ForumContact -
Date:19MondayDecember 2016Conference
Michael Sela Symposium
More information Time 08:00 - 13:30Location David Lopatie Conference Centre
Kimmel AuditoriumChairperson Idit ShacharHomepage Contact -
Date:19MondayDecember 2016Lecture
Genetic media
More information Time 14:00Location Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Prof. Yaniv Erlich
Columbia University, New York, USAOrganizer Department of Molecular GeneticsContact Abstract Show full text abstract about Abstract: In the last decade, the human population has prod...» Abstract:
In the last decade, the human population has produced zettabytes (10^21) of digital data. This creates immense opportunities and challenges for biology research. In this talk, I will present two research directions of my groups on the intersection between genetics and data, which we dub “genetic media”.
First, I will speak about crowd sourcing massive genetic data using social media. We collected over 80 million profiles from the largest social-media website driven by genealogy and constructed a single family tree of 13 million people. Using this data, we analyzed the genetic architecture of longevity. I will also speak about our on-going efforts to crowd source genomes and social media phenotypes to this massive pedigree.
In the second part of my talk, I will present using synthetic DNA as a medium for long-term data storage. Previous studies in leading journal have presented this concept but failed to show reliable data retrieval. Here, we report a storage strategy, called DNA Fountain, that is highly robust and approaches the Shannon limit. The success of our strategy relies on careful adaptation of coding theory to the domain-specific constraints of DNA molecules. To demonstrate its power, we stored a full computer operating system, movie, and other files in DNA oligos and perfectly retrieved the information. We explored the limit of our architecture in terms of bytes per molecules and obtained a perfect retrieval from a density of 215Petabyte/gram of DNA, orders of magnitudes higher than previous techniques. -
Date:19MondayDecember 2016Lecture
The Host Pathogen Interactions Club (see titles below)
More information Time 15:00 - 16:00Location Max and Lillian Candiotty Building
Seminar RoomLecturer Anna Pasechnek & Dvir Mintz
Anna Pasechnek - Anat Herskovits lab, TAU. Dvir Mintz - Sagi lab, WISOrganizer Department of Immunology and Regenerative BiologyContact Details Show full text description of Anna Pasachnek "Active lysogeny - a new bacteria-phage ...» Anna Pasachnek "Active lysogeny - a new bacteria-phage interaction that promotes infection"
Dvir Mintz: "The role of matrix metalloproteinases 14 (MMP14) in infectious disease" -
Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
The natural history of the infant gut microbiome in health and disease
More information Time 09:00Location Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Dr. Moran Yassour
Postdoctoral fellow, The Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardOrganizer Department of Molecular GeneticsContact -
Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
"Tuning an Endoplasmic Reticulum Chaperone"
More information Time 11:00Location Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture HallLecturer Prof. David Ron
University of CambridgeOrganizer Department of Chemical and Structural BiologyContact -
Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
Decomposition of plant detritus in drylands – emerging drivers of the carbon cycle under a changing climate
More information Time 11:15Location Ullmann Building of Life Sciences
Aharon Katzir HallLecturer Dr. José Grünzweig
The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, RehovotOrganizer Department of Plant and Environmental SciencesContact Details Show full text description of http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/plantscience/staff-eng/gr...» http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/plantscience/staff-eng/gruenzweig/
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Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
Dr. Ilana Kolodkin Gal - Under the surface: A tour of collective microbe communities
More information Time 12:00 - 13:00Title Under the surface: A tour of collective microbe communitiesLocation Dolfi and Lola Ebner Auditorium
AuditoriumLecturer Dr. Ilana Kolodkin Gal
Molecular Genetics DepartmentOrganizer Communications and Spokesperson DepartmentHomepage Contact Details Show full text description of The lecture is in Hebrew...» The lecture is in Hebrew -
Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
Similarity matching: a new principle of neural computation
More information Time 12:30Location Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture HallLecturer Prof. Dmitri "Mitya" Chklovskii
Simons Foundation and NYU Medical CenterOrganizer Department of Brain SciencesContact Details Show full text description of Host: Prof. Misha Tsodyks misha@weizmann.ac.il tel: 2157 ...» Host: Prof. Misha Tsodyks misha@weizmann.ac.il tel: 2157
For assistance with accessibility issues, please contact naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
Abstract Show full text abstract about Abundance of recently obtained datasets on brain structure (...» Abundance of recently obtained datasets on brain structure (connectomics) and function (neuronal population activity) calls for a normative theory of neural computation. In the conventional, so-called, reconstruction approach to neural computation, population activity is thought to represent the stimulus. Instead, we propose that the similarity of population activity matches the similarity of the stimuli under certain constraints. From this similarity matching principle, we derive online algorithms that can account for both structural and functional observations.
Bio: Dmitri "Mitya" Chklovskii is Group Leader for Neuroscience at the Simons Foundation's new Flatiron Institute in New York City. He received a PhD in Theoretical Physics from MIT and was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. He switched from physics to neuroscience at the Salk Institute and founded the first theoretical neuroscience group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1999, where he was an Assistant and then Associate Professor. From 2007 to 2014 he was a Group Leader at Janelia Farm where he led a team that assembled the largest-ever connectome. His group develops software for experimental data analysis and constructs normative theories of neural computation.
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Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
Molecular Neuroscience Forum Seminar
More information Time 15:00 - 16:00Title The Importins of AnxietyLocation Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Nicolas Panayotis
WeizmannOrganizer Department of Biomolecular SciencesHomepage Contact -
Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Lecture
"The protein folding problem: Slow progress using ultrafast spectroscopy and kinetics"
More information Time 15:00Location Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Building
Dov Elad RoomLecturer Prof. Elisha Haas
Head - Biophysics Program BIUOrganizer Department of Chemical and Structural BiologyContact -
Date:20TuesdayDecember 2016Cultural Events
Afternoon music :Dangerous Songs - Henry Purcell
More information Time 16:30Location Michael and Anna Wix AuditoriumContact Details Show full text description of Ye'ela Avital-Soprano Ehud Shapiro-Bass With Ba Roc...» Ye'ela Avital-Soprano
Ehud Shapiro-Bass
With Ba Rock Band will perform subversive songs that Purcell and his friends sang three centuries ago. -
Date:21WednesdayDecember 2016Lecture
Chemical Physics Department Guest Seminar
More information Time 10:00Title Second-law-like constraints on higher energy moments in small open quantum systemsLocation Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture HallLecturer Dr Raam Uzdin
Hebrew University of JerusalemOrganizer Department of Chemical and Biological PhysicsContact Abstract Show full text abstract about Quantum thermodynamics deals with thermodynamic effects and ...» Quantum thermodynamics deals with thermodynamic effects and thermodynamic constraints (e.g. the 2nd law) that emerge in out-of-equilibrium microscopic open quantum systems, and in microscopic heat machines. Presently, the technology developed for quantum computing is sufficient for exploring quantum thermodynamic experimentally (new experimental results will be shown). On top of the second law, thermodynamic resource theory predicts additional mathematical constraints on thermal transformation of microscopic systems. Unlike the second law, these constraints cannot be related to thermodynamic observables. Consequently, they are useful for some theoretical purposes, but not for making concrete predictions on realistic scenarios. In this talk I will present a new formalism that yields additional “seconds laws” that follow the logic and structure of the standard 2nd law. While the 2nd law deals with the first moment of the energy (average heat, average work), the observables in the new laws are higher moments of the energy. I will show several scenarios where these laws provide concrete answers to “blind spots” that are not addressed by the standard 2nd law. In other cases tighter bounds are obtained compared to the standard 2nd law. Potentially, this formalism can significantly extend the thermodynamic framework, and put additional practical bounds on thermal transformations and microscopic heat machines. Finally, I will discuss the connection to quantum coherence measures and list several research directions. -
Date:21WednesdayDecember 2016Lecture
Adaptive Plasticity by Individual-Specific Improvisation
More information Time 10:00Location Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Yoav Soen
Dept. of Biomolecular SciencesOrganizer Life Sciences
Developmental ClubContact -
Date:21WednesdayDecember 2016Lecture
"Neuronal Gtf2i-dependent myelination deficits as a novel pathophysiological mechanism in Williams syndrome"
More information Time 14:00Location Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture HallLecturer Dr. Boaz Barak
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute, MITOrganizer Department of Brain SciencesContact Details Show full text description of Host: Dr. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957 ...» Host: Dr. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957
For assistance with accessibility issues, please contact naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
Abstract Show full text abstract about Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caus...» Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a heterozygous microdeletion of about 26 genes from chromosomal region 7q11.23, characterized by hypersociability and unique neurocognitive abnormalities. Of those deleted, general transcription factor II-i (Gtf2i), has been shown to affect hypersociability in WS, although the cell type and neural circuitry critical for the hypersociability are poorly understood. To dissect neural circuitry related to hypersociability in WS and to characterize the neuron-autonomous role of Gtf2i we conditionally knockedout Gtf2i in forebrain excitatory neurons and found this recapitulate WS features, including increased sociability and anxiety and neuroanatomical defects. Unexpectedly, we found that in the mutant mouse cortex 70% of the significantly downregulated genes were involved in myelination, together with a reduction in mature oligodendrocyte cells number, disrupted myelin ultrastructure and fine motor deficits. Analyzing the transcriptome in human frontal cortex, we found similar downregulation of myelination-related genes, suggesting a novel pathophysiological mechanism in WS, based on neuron-oligodendrocytes signaling deficits. Overall, our data detail the cellular processes that may lead to the WS typical phenotype and developmental abnormalities, and suggest new paths to explore and treat WS, as well as social and cognitive abnormalities.
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Date:22ThursdayDecember 2016Lecture
The regulatory role of short structural variants and the implication to neurodegenerative diseases in aging
More information Time 10:00Location Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Prof. Ornit Chiba-Falek
Department of Neurology Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and Center for Genomic and Computational Biology Duke University Medical CenterOrganizer Department of Molecular GeneticsContact Abstract Show full text abstract about In the post genome-wide association studies (GWAS) era we ar...» In the post genome-wide association studies (GWAS) era we are shifting gears toward translation of genetic disease loci to molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and pinpointing the causal genetic factors and their functional effects. It has been suggested that changes, even subtle, in the expression levels of wild-type genes in the brain can, over years, lead to neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, differences in gene expression profiles between brain tissues from neurodegenerative disease patients compared to healthy controls have been reported. Short structural variants (SSVs) are short genomic variants (<50 bp) other than SNPs. Recently, there has been increased support for the idea that SSVs, which are largely ignored in large-scale genetic studies, may be involved in many complex diseases, and may also contribute significantly to variation in gene expression in human. We have been studying the expression regulation of key genes implicated in Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD) diseases and a wide-spectrum of related disorders. In particular, we focus on noncoding SSVs and their cis-regulatory effects on gene expression using a comprehensive strategy that combines multiple-level approaches. (1) in silico: we have developed a new bioinformatics tool for prioritizing candidate functional/causal SSVs. The tool is a searchable, annotated database of SSVs, with associated customizable scoring software that is designed to evaluate and prioritize SSVs that are most likely to have significant biological effects and impact on disease risk. (2) in vitro: we have established induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC)-derived neurons, dopaminergic and cholinergic, from a normal subject and PD patients. We are currently using this model system to determine how cis-variants modulate expression of disease risk genes via their interactions with the trans-acting factors, by applying CRISPR/Cas9 – mediated genome editing. (3) in vivo: we have quantified cell-type specific gene expression in neurons, astrocytes, and microglia by single-cell gene expression assays using cells isolated from frozen human brain samples via LCM. We have implemented this strategy in studies of genomic loci implicated in Lewy body and AD diseases, specifically SNCA gene and the TOMM40-APOE cluster. Collectively, the innovative approaches we developed represent a cohesive strategy for discovering potentially functional and causal variants within candidate risk-genes associated with AD-PD spectrum disorders. -
Date:22ThursdayDecember 2016Lecture
Molecular Neuroscience Forum Seminar
More information Time 10:00 - 11:00Title The regulatory role of short structural variants and the implication to neurodegenerative diseases in agingLocation Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Ornit Chiba-Falek
Duke UniversityOrganizer Department of Biomolecular SciencesHomepage Contact -
Date:22ThursdayDecember 2016Lecture
Working successfully with WIS new institutional review board principles and a practical guide to human research at WIS
More information Time 11:00Location Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
Botnar AuditoriumLecturer Prof. Eran Hornstein
Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of ScienceOrganizer Department of Molecular GeneticsContact