ILSI-Biomed Israel

Meet the Speakers: The Future of siRNA

siRNA is one of the molecules of future medicine, with some success at early clinical trials. How will this molecule affect the future of therapeutics? Twelve years ago, a novel mechanism for shutting down genes has been described in a nature paper. The mechanism described made use of molecules called siRNA – Small Inhibitory RNA – whose potential for the development of new therapies for diseases like cancer has been recognized immediately. Last year, Dr. Dan Peer managed to create lip...

The Law of the Ordinary and Contact Lenses against Glaucoma

A new invention in the form of contact lenses against glaucoma, shows how biomedical devices should be designed I like to think about biomedical instruments as bits of magic. Not because they cause wonders and provide instant-cures (though some do), but because the more ordinary and mundane in appearance they are, the better they become – much as in magic tricks. It’s the Law of the Ordinary ™. If you market a device for overcoming seizures, and it looks like a robotic arm-sleeve, the...

The Problem with Biomed Engineering

The problem with biomed engineering? Too much details, not enough thinking. At least according to my wife. But she might just have a point there. She usually does. Last night I was talking with my wife; About biomedical engineering, of course. She doesn't like the field much, to be honest, and enjoy making attempts at subverting me to her point of view and dislike. "Honey, I think the biomed industry is really coming to a halt," said my darling with a serene smile on her face. "Any ...

How to Handle Too Much Medical Information?

In a world choke-full of information, how can you get your medical information to the target audience? Lately, I’ve been noticing a curious behavior pattern on my side. It all began when my incoming e-mails quota went higher than twenty per day. I simply could not take the time to reply to them all, and some were left almost inevitably to the weekend, when it would take me half a day to collectively browse through and answer all of them. When talking to my colleagues I found out them some...

Medical Device Companies Embrace Social Media

An online survey reveals that medical device companies embrace social media slowly but surely. Everyone wants to advertise their wares to as many people as possible. However, it costs a lot to put your ad on TV or even on Ynet. The most simple solution, which more and more companies are beginning to use, is to create their own social media on the net: blogs, groups on Facebook, fan pages - they're all out there. And if they're written well enough, they can easily receive thousands of visi...

BenchFly: a Virtual Advisor for Graduate Students

BenchFly's website offers many useful tips for research and labwork, from ways of doing colony PCR to the best method to keep your waterbath clean. Protocols and techniques abound! If you’re a graduate student, doing your PhD or MSc study, you probably know by now that supervisors are not quite as useful as you would like them to be. Sure, once or twice a month you have a meeting with them, where you tell them of all the results you don’t have, and they tell you what to do next. But they ...

Entrepeneurship Lessons from the Technion, Now on Youtube

The Technion is uploading an entire entrepeneurship course onto Youtube. Entrepeneurship is good. Free stuff is good. The Technion is good. That’s why I think the Technion’s new idea is absolutely brilliant: uploading the lectures from an ongoing Technological Entrepreneurship course to Youtube. If I ever want to op en my own start-up, this is going to be useful. Plus, the lectures themselves are interesting and highly recommended. Other th an that, I like the fact that the Te...

Tips for Investing in Biotech Companies

How can you recognize the most promising companies in the biotech sector? And how do you make your own company look as promising? Who doesn’t want to invest in the next Teva? If you buy the right stocks at the right time, you could end up a millionaire. If you buy the wrong stocks at the wrong time, or even choose to wait without action, you could end up with less jingly-jingle in your pockets. But how can you tell which stocks are the right ones, especially with starting biotechnology compa...