Weizmann Institute of Science doctoral candidate named one of World’s Top Young Innovators
The Weizmann Institute of Science today announced that Yaakov Benenson, doctoral student under Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Departments of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, has been named to the 2004 list of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, MIT’s Magazine of Innovation. The TR 100, chosen by the editors of Technology Review and an elite panel of judges, consists of 100 individuals under age 35 whose innovative work in technology has a profound impact on today’s world and will shape the future of the way we live and work. This year’s nominees are recognized for their contributions in transforming the nature of technology and business in industries such as biotechnology and medicine, computing, and nanotechnology.
Inspired by Prof. Shapiro’s vision of a “doctor in a cell”, Benenson joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1999 at age 24 and began to tackle the challenges of DNA-driven computing solutions for disease diagnosis and treatment. Benenson co-invented the world's smallest biological computing device - a bio-molecular finite-state automaton made from DNA strands and DNA-manipulating enzymes. The automaton was listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest biological computing device - it is about a trillionth the size of a drop of water. Recently, this device was enhanced to detect and diagnose molecular symptoms of cancer in vitro and, in response, to release a drug to treat the cancer. Benenson’s breakthrough in this area of research exceeded earlier progress predictions by Shapiro and others. His efforts in the development of cutting-edge biotechnologies such as this “smart drug" have put him among the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators.
“Nature invented intricate molecular tools to detect and repair malfunctions in cells and organisms. Ultimately, our research may lead to the use of biomolecular computers to supplement and enhance existing natural defenses,” says Benenson.
Benenson received the Wolf Foundation Prize for Excellence in Graduate Studies in 1998, and is currently on the Dean’s List of the Feinberg Graduate School at the Weizmann Institute of Science for his achievements in PhD studies and research.
Benenson and his innovative peers will be honored September 29-30 at Technology Review’s 2004 Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT.
Yaakov Benenson was born in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), a large industrial city in the Ural Mountains, USSR, into a family of scientists and engineers. He moved with his family to Israel in 1991. After graduating from high school in 1993, he was admitted to the Technion special program in Chemistry and Biology for the exceptionally gifted students. In 1999 he received an M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry, working on biocatalysis under the supervision of Prof. Timor Baasov from the Technion Chemistry Department. He joined Prof. Shapiro at the Weizmann Institute in 1999. His hobbies include windsurfing, amateur photography and culture criticism.
Prof. Ehud Shapiro’s research is supported by the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research, the Samuel R. Dweck Foundation, the Dolfi and Lola Ebner Center for Biomedical Research, the Benjamin and Seema Pulier Charitable Foundation, and the Robert Rees Fund for Applied Research.
For first time, Israeli Bedouin named university department chairs
By David Margolis
In a striking and encouraging coincidence, two Bedouin professors at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheva were elected chairs of their respective departments this summer. Dr. Aref Abu-Rabia of Middle East Studies and Dr. Alean Al-Krenawi of Social Work are the first Bedouin to serve as department chairs in any Israeli university.
Although in very different fields, the two new chairmen have similar visions for the direction they want their departments to go - toward strengthening coexistence and tolerance between Arabs and Jews inside and outside the university.
Al-Krenawi's plans include multiculturalism projects that bring Bedouin and Jewish students to visit each other's towns to "share their experience." In addition to a course in Multicultural Social Work, he aims to establish a full program in 'international social work' and to develop student exchanges with other universities. All of these projects will increase and emphasize student learning about other cultures and ways of doing social work, he explained.
In Middle East Studies, Abu-Rabia also has plans to encourage and enlarge such special multicultural programs as an international MA degree. He expects the program to attract students from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Kuwait, despite most of these countries' reluctance to recognize Israel diplomatically. He too plans joint Jewish-Bedouin study tours to Arab and Jewish towns. Beyond the local landscape, Abu-Rabia aims to conduct student tours to Arab countries, such as Turkey and Morocco, in order to study the joint heritage of Jews and Muslims.
The university's inclusive atmosphere reflects the vision and tireless work of its president, Dr. Avishay Braverman. During the 14 years of his presidency, Braverman has opened the university's doors to both faculty and students from the Bedouin community, which represents about a third of the population of Israel's Negev region. The number of female Bedouin students, for example, has gone from only two to nearly 300 (along with an equal number of men).
In Braverman's view, the university is not an isolated center of academic excellence but essential to the overall development of the Negev. The university, he said, is also an engine to generate jobs in 'high-quality, brain-oriented' industries, in order to bring people to the Negev, retain them there and create an infrastructure for future economic and cultural growth. Ultimately, he envisages the Negev as Israel's 'Silicon Valley,' with Beersheva as a large, multicultural metropolis that will incorporate surrounding Bedouin towns as well as Jewish ones.
Courtesy http://www.israel21c.org/