These species join a large number of invertebrates recently found in Israeli caves that are new to science. The study was recently published in the Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution journal and has extensive scientific implications for uncovering the evolution of speciation in caves and the historical, geographic, and climatic processes that occurred in Israel.

Doctoral student Shlomi Aharon led the study under the guidance of Dr. Efrat Gavish-Regev, from the Hebrew University National Natural History Collections and Prof. Dror Hawlena from the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior.

“In many cases, these adaptations will lead to the creation of new species, whose distribution is geographically limited in areas with unique ecological conditions, such as a single cave or a system of connected caves,” Aharon says. “In this study, we sought to understand the evolutionary relationships between funnel web spiders with normal eyes that are found at the cave entrance, with those that are further in the cave and are pigmentless, eye-reduced, and even completely blind.”

In the study, the researchers collected the spiders by hand and then conducted a series of microscopic examinations, recorded the morphology, and extracted DNA from each to compare them to sequences of known species of the same genus that exist in GenBank.

“Among the spiders we found, five were unique to different caves, and the two other species were found in several caves in the Galilee and in caves situated at the Ofra karst field, which is now under threat from planned construction,” says Dr. Gavish-Regev. “One of the surprising findings in the study shows that the new species are evolutionarily closer to species from caves in Mediterranean areas in southern Europe than to species living in close proximity to them at cave entrances in Israel.”

Five of the new species described had reduced eyes, while the other two were completely blind. The researchers suggest that the new species developed adaptations to life in underground habitats and speciated in caves, after or simultaneously with the extinction of the ancestor species from which they evolved, which lived outside caves and became extinct due to historical regional climate changes.

“We are currently witnessing the effects of climate change on many habitats, which obliges us to consider, maintain, and promote programs that include the preservation of underground habitats – many of which are at immediate risk,” concludes Professor Hawlena. “We must protect Israel’s unique nature, preserve its underground systems for the future, and further explore the processes that created these systems in the country.”

The team of researchers, led by Prof. Ruth Sperling of the Hebrew University Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, together with Prof. Stephen Stamm from the School of Medicine in Lexington, Kentucky, hypothesize that a new type of primate-specific proteins, translated from molecules of circular RNA, improves the brain’s function in relation to other organisms with a similar number of genes.

RNA is the mediator in turning instructions encoded in DNA into cellular proteins. As part of the process, the RNA is heavily modified: some pieces are cut out and the remaining parts are put back together, to assemble a new line of RNA – which fundamentally changes their composition. Sometimes, these parts form in circles, creating circular RNA.

Circular RNAs are mostly found in the brain and their formation is promoted by genomic elements specific to humans and other primates, called Alu-elements. The human genome consists of about 11% Alu-elements and their expansion in primates correlates with brain complexity.

“For the first time, the team of researchers will focus on new biological aspects of the circular RNA molecules, with the aim of revealing why humans have a stronger and more complex brain than other organisms with a similar number of genes,” Stamm says.

Prof. Sperling, a world-renowned expert in RNA processing, is seeking to understand how circular RNA is created by the splicing machinery in cells, to analyze when this occurs and how it is regulated in the brain.

According to Sperling, “If we do find that we have new proteins, this opens up a completely new research field with essential functions for the human brain.” Such a discovery may have wide implications, for example, on the detection of genetic materials correlated with schizophrenia, epilepsy, autism, or neurological disease.”

The hypothesis is that the new proteins, translated from these specific circular RNAs, substantially increase molecular complexity, which improves brain functions. “Do circular RNAs code for proteins? Do these proteins function? Can they be found in the brain? This is what we are analyzing. It has never been looked at,” Stamm says.

As part of the three-year project, there will be annual two-week RNA biology courses held in the summer at Hebrew University in Jerusalem led by Stamm and Sperling. Students from both universities will have theoretical lectures and do hands-on experiments during the course.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number 2221921, and United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation under Award Number 2022602.

The prestigious Dan David Prize for the Study of History was awarded to nine scholars from around the world. The prize amounts to $300,000USD and is awarded for the second year in its new format by the Dan David Foundation at Tel Aviv University.

Among the winners of the distinguished Prize for 2023 is Dr. Karma Ben Johanan of the החוג למדע הדתות באוניברסיטה העברית - The Department of Comparative Religion whose groundbreaking research in the field of relations between religions advances historical research and sheds light on the past. She is the first Israeli woman to receive the prize since it was founded in 2001.

Dr. Ben-Johanan is a scholar of contemporary theology and Jewish-Christian relations. Her dissertation focused on mutual theological views of Catholic and Orthodox Jews in recent decades. She was awarded the Dan David Prize for her research on the relationships between different religious traditions, the Catholic Church's reconciliation initiative with Jews after the Second Vatican Council and the reactions of Orthodox Jewish thinkers and rabbis to these developments. This May, a special ceremony will be held in Tel Aviv where the Dan David Awards will be presented to the nine new winners.

The Dan David Prize was first awarded in 2001 by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan David, with the aim of rewarding innovative and interdisciplinary research work that contributed to humanity. Starting in 2021, the award has been relaunched and focuses on significant and groundbreaking historical research. Today, the prize rewards leading historians, with the aim of helping them realize their research potential at a time when support for the humanities is diminishing.

Photo: Avigail Piperno-Beer

The findings of this study were published in ACS Nano Journal and featured on the cover of the latest issue, demonstrated positive therapeutic effects of MAPSULES in biological models carrying human breast tumors. The MAPSULES also boost drug therapeutic action and minimize damage to surrounding tissues.

This study, led by Arnon Fluksman, a Ph.D. student in Prof. Ofra Benny’s laboratory at the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine’s School of Pharmacy, and  Dr. Borja Sepulveda and his team at the Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona, fabricated and evaluated MAPSULES in various cancer cell models.

“With over 18 million cancer cases worldwide in 2020, scientists and medical practitioners have grappled with advancing local drug delivery methods to improve treatment outcomes,” says Fluksman. Despite the promise of overcoming chemotherapy side effects, nanotherapies have been unable to meet expectations due to the low nanoparticle concentration that ultimately reaches the solid tumor. Our unique method enables us to remotely control the molecules with the help of a magnet, deliver drugs to the precise location of the tumor, and control drug release rates.”

Results also showed that laser irradiation of MAPSULES could increase therapeutic impact by generating heat locally in the tumor site. These findings introduce the first design of a full nano-scale carrier containing large doses of chemotherapeutics with a thin external metal coating, effectively delivering chemotherapy to a solid tumor site.

“Creating an ‘Iron Dome’ of sorts for cancer, MAPSULES not only kill cancerous cells but also protect the patient from unnecessary damage to healthy tissue, thus augmenting cancer treatment outcomes,” said Prof. Benny. “With our discovery of MAPSULES’s efficacy, we can advance our solutions and offer a wide range of materials that can be manipulated and activated remotely to support a wide variety of therapies for diseases beyond cancer.”

Referring to the cancellation of Israel's sweetened beverage tax, as "a grievous blow to public health," Hebrew University Prof. Aron Troen, and a renowned worldwide group of senior health scholars have published a letter in The Lancet prestigious medical journal seeking to overturn the harmful, hasty, and costly decision. See attached for text of letter.

Approximately 64 percent of adults in Israel are overweight, defined as a body mass index over 25 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Childhood obesity is on the rise, and its poor populations carry the greatest burden of associated chronic disease, like diabetes. The direct and indirect costs of obesity to Israeli society are estimated at 20 billion NIS ($5.8 Billion) annually.

"Since its introduction a year ago, the tax has reduced the consumption of sweetened drinks by about 10%," says Troen who is a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. “The fact that world health leaders have responded shows what an important issue we’re dealing with. Canceling the tax is irresponsible, an act of public health malpractice, and an outrage.”

In the letter, the authors state that, "Revoking the tax will undoubtedly harm lives and increase the direct and indirect economic costs to Israel's health system and economy, both in the short term and long term. More broadly, this act undermines hard won progress made elsewhere around the world. It is a serious setback for evidence-based public health policy and will be celebrated by vested interests who promote their products and disregard the need for policies that uphold the public's health and welfare. This decision will be seen as prioritizing sectorial political interests over incontrovertible scientific evidence and public health best practice."

The scholars conclude the letter by, "calling on the Government of Israel to reconsider and retract this ill-conceived and hasty decision. Instead, let the revenue from the soda tax be used to combat chronic diseases including obesity, as well as promote nutrition security by increasing economic access to healthy diets, narrowing health disparities, improving the health and welfare of all Israeli citizens, and setting an example for world health leadership."

Other co-authors include Darius Mozaffarian, Dean for Policy at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science who co-chairs the task force that informed the White House Conference on Hunger and Nutritional Security, Barry Popkin, a world-renowned health economist, and Hagai Levin from the Hebrew University School of Public Health and chair of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians.

About the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's leading academic and research institution. Serving some 24,000 students from 80 countries, it produces a third of Israel’s civilian research and is ranked 12th worldwide in biotechnology patent filings and commercial development. Faculty and alumni of the Hebrew University have won eight Nobel Prizes and a Fields Medal. For more information about the Hebrew University, please visit http://new.huji.ac.il/en.

About American Friends of the Hebrew University

American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) is a national, not-for-profit organization based in the United States. AFHU is headquartered in New York and has seven regional offices working in close partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. AFHU provides supporters, Hebrew University alumni, and the public with stimulating programs and events, and organizes missions to Israel. The organization’s activities support scholarly and scientific achievement at HU, create scholarships, fund new facilities, and assist the university’s efforts to recruit outstanding new faculty.

For more information, please visit http://www.afhu.org.

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This report delves into each of the individual SDGs and outlines how the University is playing a role in making an impact on these goals.

To read this report, click here