Good News Israel presents Israeli shrub treats diabetes; Israeli and Irish scientists join up to fight cancer and much more.

By: Michael Ordman

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Israeli shrub treats diabetes

Israeli researchers at the Judea Research and Development Center have discovered that the Israeli shrub Chiliadenus iphionoides increases sugar absorption and reduces blood sugar levels. They are now trying to isolate the active ingredient in order to make an accessible diabetes treatment.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-researchers-discover-shrub-that-can-treat-diabetes/

Blocking receptor prevents diabetes

Professor Ofer Mandelboim of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has won the 2015 Kaye Innovation for discovering that blocking the NKp46 receptor on Natural Killer cells delays or prevents the onset of Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes. Israel’s BioLineRX developed BL-9020 to target NKp46.
http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/26933

Trials for dry-AMD treatment begin

Israel’s Cell Cure is commencing a Phase I/IIa study of its OpRegen treatment for geographic atrophy (GA), the severe stage of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD). Cell Cure has received another NIS 6.24 million grant from Israel’s Chief Scientist.
http://investor.biotimeinc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=83805&p=irol-newsArticle&id=2047497

Israeli & Irish scientists join up to fight cancer

The 2nd Joint Symposium took place last week between Dublin’s Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute and Israel’s Weizmann and Technion Institutes. See the pdf report on last year’s event and joint Israeli-Irish research into cancer and inflammatory diseases.
http://www.weizmann.ac.il/conferences/TBSI2015/
https://www.tcd.ie/biosciences/assets/pdf/IT_supple_tbsi_weiz.pdf

Study neuroscience for free online with the Hebrew U

Here’s another chance to take the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s free nine-week introductory course by Professor Idan Segev on neuroscience. Over 60,000 took the original “Synapses, Neurons and Brains” course, including many from Arab countries.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/synapses

Not for the first time

BBC and Sky TV headlines hailed a first for a baby born after ovarian tissue taken from the mother was transplanted back. Readers will know that Israeli doctors also have done this, without any international media fanfare.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33063838

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