Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences

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Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences
PikiWiki Israel 3992 givat ram campus.jpg
TypeResearch Institute
Established1925
Parent institution
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Chairperson Prof. Guy Bloch
Academic staff
75
Students900
Undergraduates 600
Location
Jerusalem
,
Israel
LanguageHebrew & English
Website https://www.bio.huji.ac.il/en

The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences (AS-ILS) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the oldest life sciences research institute in Israel. It is part of the Faculty of Sciences, and is located in the Edmond J. Safra Campus (Givat Ram) in Jerusalem.

Contents

History

The origins of the institute date back to 1925, the year that the Hebrew University was founded, [1] when the Department of Botany was formed as part of a research unit called "The Institute for Studying the Natural History of the Land of Israel". Among the founding researchers were Profs. Otto Warburg, [2] Alexander Eig, [3] Michael Zohary [4] and Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan. [5] During the first years of the department, several large-scale projects that continue to this day have been started off, including the establishment of the Herbarium Collection, [6] today part of Israel's Natural History Collections, [7] and the establishment of the National Botanic Garden of Israel at Mount Scopus, which was the first of its kind in the Middle East.

In 1928, Prof. Simon Bodenheimer joined the nascent institute and established the Department of Zoology, leading the institute to probe into new scientific fields. [8]

Research activities at both departments (and at the Hebrew University in general) were diminished in 1948 during the War of Independence, and were brought to a complete stop following the Hadassah medical convoy massacre. Activity in both departments was renewed after the war, in April 1949. [1]

Notable achievements

Throughout the years AS-ILS members have conducted basic research as well as applied science in the fields of biomedicine, biotechnology and agriculture at multiple levels of organization, from molecular mechanism in cells, through processes within the whole organism, and to studies at the population level. AS-ILS members have been associated with several discoveries:

Study Programs

The institute offers a number of undergraduate programs, including a single major program, joint dual major programs, supplementary units, and a number of excellence programs. [39] [40]

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References

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  35. ↑ Yilmaz, Atilgan; Peretz, Mordecai; Aharony, Aviram; Sagi, Ido; Benvenisty, Nissim (May 2018). "Defining essential genes for human pluripotent stem cells by CRISPR–Cas9 screening in haploid cells". Nature Cell Biology. 20 (5): 610–619. doi:10.1038/s41556-018-0088-1. ISSN   1465-7392. PMID   29662178.
  36. ↑ Bar, Shiran; Vershkov, Dan; Keshet, Gal; Lezmi, Elyad; Meller, Naama; Yilmaz, Atilgan; Yanuka, Ofra; Nissim-Rafinia, Malka; Meshorer, Eran; Eldar-Geva, Talia; Benvenisty, Nissim (2021-11-18). "Identifying regulators of parental imprinting by CRISPR/Cas9 screening in haploid human embryonic stem cells". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 6718. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.6718B. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26949-7. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   8602306 . PMID   34795250.
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