Weizmann Institute of Science

New Capabilities

Host institution for the study's lead author

Menopause has long been treated as a slow shutdown of reproduction. An analysis of 300 million lab tests from women in the United States and Israel found a sharper pattern: 52 of 90 markers jump at the final menstrual period, across bone, liver, kidney, lipid and blood systems. Men showed no such step.

Updated 6 days ago

New Capabilities

Co-led the project

A new genetic atlas shows which DNA differences between humans and great apes actually matter, and it exposes a trade-off. The changes that shaped the human skeleton also left human cartilage with about a third of the cushioning molecules that apes have.

Updated Oct 16

New Capabilities

As of September 2026: Where the study was conducted

Cells in fruit fly larvae can start their own death program, stop partway through it, and survive to rebuild damaged tissue. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science named these cells DARE cells and found they replenished nearly half of the damaged tissue within 48 hours.

Updated Sep 18

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Pioneered the computational approach to bacterial defense discovery

Every major tool in genetic engineering — from the enzymes that cut DNA in the 1970s to CRISPR gene editing — started as a defense weapon bacteria use against viruses. Two teams revealed bacteria carry three times more weapons than anyone realized, identifying millions of antiviral proteins from tens of thousands of genomes using machine-learning models that flag a new defense system in five minutes.

Updated May 31