People

Prof. Abraham “Avi” Minsky (1952–2024) was a distinguished structural biologist and virologist who made transformative contributions to our understanding of DNA organization under stress, cellular survival strategies, and viral infection mechanisms.

Born and raised in Haifa, following his military serviсe, Minsky completed his B.Sc. (with honors) and Ph.D. (Suma cum Lauda) in Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the supervision of Prof. Mordecai Rabinovitz. After earning his doctorate in 1984, he spent three years (1984–1987) at Harvard University for a postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Prof. Jeremy Knowles. There he studied protein folding processes during their secretion in bacteria. The combination of chemistry and life sciences fascinated him.

In 1987, he joined the Department of Organic Chemistry (later the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science) at the Weizmann Institute and established and led an excellent research group, guided many students who have served and hold academic positions in various research areas at the Weizmann Institute, at other research institutes and universities and colleges in Israel and around the world.

For twenty-four years, Avi was member of the Department, during which he rose through the ranks to the rank of Professor. In January 2011, Avi moved to the Department of Structural Biology (later the Department of Chemical and Structural Biology) and served as Head of the Department for 6 years.

In early 1990s, Avi played a pivotal role in introducing high-resolution electron microscopy and electron tomography techniques at Weizmann to investigate cellular adaptations to extreme conditions such as stress, starvation, and oxidative damage. Avi founded and headed the Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Center for Nano and Bio‑Imaging (established at Weizmann in 2006), which became a major hub for ultrahigh‑resolution microscopy research across the Institute

Minsky made a landmark discovery of a bacterium whose ring‑like DNA organization conferred exceptional radiation resistance, uncovering a novel cellular defense mechanism with implications for resilience in extreme environments.

His team also demonstrated the formation of DNA crystalline structures in bacteria under stress—structures stabilized by the Dps protein, which act as protective assemblies preserving DNA integrity.

Minsky extended his research to the realm of giant DNA viruses, especially the mimivirus, revealing structural details of their infection cycles and modes of cellular invasion; work that was noted in popular science literature like This Book Will Blow Your Mind.

Avi was highly respected in the scientific community worldwide. He was invited as a keynote speaker at many international scientific conferences, won many scientific awards and was elected member of EMBO (2005).

Known for his deep appreciation of classical music and French chansons, he also maintained a beautiful cactus garden in his home backyard on Weizmann campus—a reflection of his love for nature and botany.

Prof. Minsky passed away in his sleep, at home of cardiac arrest, in January 2024 at the age of 72.