Yael Noy is a PhD student in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, working in the laboratory of Dr. Dvir Gur, where she researches pigment cell biology and biomineralization pathways. She holds a BSc in Marine Biotechnology from Ruppin Academic Center and MSc in Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute. In her PhD work, Yael focuses on the formation mechanisms of biogenic organic crystals in zebrafish pigment cells, particularly investigating unique pigment cells that can transdifferentiate and contain two distinct pigment types, as well as their specialized structures and molecular machinery. In parallel, she studies the emergence of biogenic organic crystals in unicellular algae following nitrogen starvation, aiming to elucidate cellular responses and reaction mechanisms to environmental stressors.