After 2000 years of exile, the citizens of
the modern State of Israel can be proud of their phenomenal technological
achievements in just 67 years. It’s as
if the gift of Time itself has been bestowed on the Jewish State for the benefit
of humanity.
Israel is at the forefront of the age-old
fight against cancer. In 2004 Professor
Aaron Ciechanover of Israel’s Technion won the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry by identifying the ubiquitin pathway that controls
the timing of cell death. 11
years later, scientists working in Professor Ciechanover’s laboratory,
have identified the chemicals in the body that suppress malignant growth and
protect healthy cells. In another line
of research, scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have identified that
tumors can be triggered by information-overload at the cell level. They have also found a molecule that can
block inter-cell messages, allowing the cell nucleus more
time to behave correctly.
Meanwhile, up to 20 Nobel Prize laureates are giving
up their time this summer, in order to attend the World Science
Conference in Jerusalem. The five-day
event will be the largest such event of its kind ever to be held, attracting
scientists and thinkers from 60 countries.
There is no time like the present for
dispelling the long-held view that we cannot reverse the effects of time on our
bodies. Now you can rejuvenate
your arteries by consuming pomegranate
juice and dates together - according to researchers at Israel’s
Technion and Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center.
And following research by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute, it won’t
be too long before heart tissue can be
re-grown to replace that damaged by heart disease or heart attack.
Imagine how much medical
research and diagnostic time can be saved in the future once Israeli
startup Zebra Medical Vision has built up its database of anonymous medical
images (X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans).
Due to privacy laws, such data was unavailable previously. And surgeons in the USA can now take
their time planning hip replacements following FDA approval of the
TraumaCad iPhone / iPad mobile app developed by Israeli health-tech firm
Voyant. It allows doctors to download a
digital image of the patient’s hip, simultaneously with that of the new
implant, in order to simulate the operation.
Israel’s success can partly be attributed
to the many incubators and accelerators that give hundreds of startup companies
time to grow their
business. Israel’s Office of
the Chief Scientist is opening three new hi-tech incubators in Akko, Haifa and
the Golan, each running for 8
years. Then at Israel’s Startup
Fusion 2015 on 22nd March, over a dozen startups, (including 3 Japanese and 3
Turkish) competed for a $100,000
seed investment to be provided by Samurai Incubate. And when the
time comes for these startups to make the decision whether to sell out
to the big multinationals, many have now come to realize that they should stay
the course and grow into big Israeli companies.
Over 100 students from 11 European countries
found their time
well spent when they attended a free 4-day electron microscope workshop
at Israel’s Technion. And the engineers
supervising the Delphi Automotive “Roadruner” driverless car had plenty
of time to relax and enjoy the record-breaking 3,400-mile ride as the
Advanced Drive Assistance System from Israel’s Mobileye guided them from San
Francisco to Manhattan.
We now come full circle, back to hospital,
where Israeli doctors took
their time in performing the complex surgery necessary to enable a
Syrian boy to walk again after he was severely injured by a shell in Syria’s
civil war. During his recovery
time during the festival of Passover, the boy even enjoyed the
time-honored tradition of eating matza crackers. In contrast, time
was of the essence for 27-year-old Ran Azulai, who was born with a
serious congenital defect. After 3
previous heart operations, Ran had very little time to live when surgeons
replaced his heart and two lungs in a rare, complex last-minute operation. The donor’s other organs extended the lives
of three more patients.
There is just time to mention two
innovative Israeli medical devices.
Israel’s Teva has now received FDA approval for its ProAir RespiClick
inhaler for asthmatics. The device is
the first of its kind that is breath-activated, which means the user doesn’t
need to co-ordinate the timing
of his/her breathing with manual activation of the inhaler. The other device is the MD-Logic Artificial
Pancreas developed by Israel’s DreaMed Diabetes. DreaMed has struck a deal with
Medtronic, the world’s biggest medical device company, to use the algorithm of
the Artificial Pancreas in Medtronic’s insulin pumps. The algorithm ensures that the
timing of the release of insulin is regulated exactly to the needs of
the individual diabetic.
We go into extra time, to visit Jerusalem -
Israel’s ancient and modern capital - to relive
the time when gazelles grazed in the outskirts of the holy city. On 30 March, Jerusalem’s Mayor Barkat
formally opened the Gazelle Valley Nature Park to the public. The 62-acre park cost NIS 90 million and is
Israel’s first urban nature reserve. It even contains a female gazelle from the
original wild herd that lived in the area, plus others from zoos and their
offspring.
Finally, there is a new opportunity for
world leaders to understand and appreciate the bond linking the Jewish people
to the Land of Israel from
time immemorial. The exhibit
entitled “People, Book, Land – The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People
and the Land of Israel” has just opened at the headquarters of the United
Nations in New York. The words of that
timeless folk song are: “When will they
ever learn? When will they ever learn?” Perhaps the answer is:
“In time”
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
