2004 was without a doubt one of the best years for Israel's science and technology fields. Israeli scientists made important contributions to many fields of knowledge, including medicine, cancer research, nanotechnology, material engineering, robotics and much more. Two Israeli scientists were chosen from among the 100 most promising young researchers by the Technology Review magazine, and for the first time two Israeli scientists won the Nobel prize in Chemistry.

Israeli Nobel in chemistry - Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko from the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa) together with Irwin Rose from the University of California, Irvine have won the 2004 Nobel Prize for chemistry for their discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. Proteins carry out and regulate all the processes in the cells, shaping it along the lines dictated by our genes. While most scientists in the late 70's and early 80's were concentrating on understanding the way proteins build cells and control the living body, Hershko and his then student Ciechanover were interested in the way unnecessary proteins webeing destroyed. Once a protein has done its job, it has to be disposed of. This is the process of protein degradation that Hershko and Ciechanover wanted to understand. They discovered that this process uses a small protein called ubiquitin to mark the proteins that have to be degraded at the right time and the right place in the cell. If proteins are not degraded at the right time, the cell continues to divide unchecked. This is what happens in many cancer cells; something has gone wrong in the ubiquitin system so there is no control over cell division.
The discovery and understanding of the ubiquitin mechanism has already produced a potentially life-saving drug: in 2003 the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved a new drug called Velcade – an injection-based treatment for multiple myeloma – a cancer of the bone marrow that affects more than 15,000 Americans each year. More widespread applications are now anticipated for such diseases as asthma, arthritis, multiple sclerosis as well as degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
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MEDICINE

Rehabilitation of drug addicts - In the field of medicine there were a number of important research projects that bore fruit this year. Dr. Gal Yadid from the department of Neuropharmacology at Bar Ilan University made an important discovery that may help rehabilitate drug addicts in a way not possible until today and even eventually replace Methadone.
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Digital x-ray - The Israeli Company Orex developed a compact x-ray system that was sold to the U.S. military and obtained high quality digital x-ray pictures on the front line. Dozens of these units have already seen combat service in Iraq and Afghanistan with outstanding results.
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Telomeres - Prof. Arnon Nagler, from the Sheba Medical Center and Dr. Meir Lahav from the Beilinson Medical Center pioneered research that will help our understanding of the way cells grow and age and might also soon help bone marrow transplants as well as chemotherapy patients to better deal with their treatments and prevent the creation of new cancer tumors.
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CANCER RESEARCH

Detection and elimination of cancer - Professor Itamar Willner from the Hebrew University developed a unique technology for optoelectronic detection of the presence of cancer cells. The technology detects the presence of telomerase, an active enzyme appearing in cancer cells that is considered a general marker for different types of cancers. Dr. Yoram Reiter from the Department of Biology at the Technion developed a novel new cancer treatment that has been shown to eliminate or shrink tumors in mice. The treatment causes anti-viral T cells - white blood cells that play a large role in the body’s immune response - to recognize tumors as virus-infected cells, and thus attack them
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Non-invasive cancer treatment - New technology, developed by the Israeli company InSightec is showing new direction in the treatment of cancer. This revolutionary technology developed by InSightec combines the powerful detection capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a high power ultrasound transmitter that can accurately pinpoint the tumor inside the patient's body and bombard it with a high-intensity ultrasonic beam that raises the local tissue temperature to 60 degrees Celsius, resulting in the destruction of the tumor cells.
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Target killing of cancer cells - Dr. Angel Porgador of Ben Gurion University and Dr. Ofer Mandelboim of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School have developed a new tumor-targeting strategy that will avoid most of the severe side-effects caused by conventional cancer treatment methods such as chemotherapy. The new tumor-targeting approach developed by these two scientists is based on molecules that can identify their target by attaching themselves to special receptors on the cancer cells, thus identifying and eliminating only the harmful cancer cells while keeping the normal healthy body cells unharmed.
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SECURITY & DEFENSE

Anti-Aircraft missile protection system – a number of Israeli companies are currently developing new technologies that could prevent terrorists attacks against civilian passenger planes. Israel Aircraft Industries recently successfully tested a system that uses sophisticated missile detection and tracking systems that can react automatically in a split second and launch a flare that causes the terrorist anti-aircraft missile to stray away from the plane. The flare in the commercial version of the system only glows in infra red light thus remaining unseen to the passengers on the plane and avoiding mass panic. Another system developed by Elbit Systems and Rafael will use a hi-powered infra red jammer that will be able to divert multiple heat seeking missiles away from the plane.
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Remote detection of explosives - The Israeli company ITL has developed a laser-based spectrometer that can detect the signature of particles emitted by different kinds of substances such as high explosives, chemicals and a variety of drugs and minerals. The company is currently negotiating a deal with two major US firms and is also working on an application of its solution for Israel's Defense Ministry.
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Next generation lie detector – The Israeli company Nemesysco developed technology that allows it to detect how a person feels by analyzing his voice. By analyzing many different voice parameters, the system can give information about the person being recorded including his "state of mind" - excited, confused, stressed, aroused, embarrassed, etc., as well as the basic truth/lie indicator. Nemesysco is currently working with the U.S. Air Force and has reached more then 70% accuracy in laboratory trials and even higher levels in field tests.
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Arrow anti missile system scores a direct hit – during a test conducted on July 29, the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system successfully intercepted a Scud missile over the Pacific Ocean. This was the twelfth test of an Arrow missile and the first conducted in a real life situation against a Scud missile. The proven and unmatched ability of the Arrow II missile system to intercept Theater Ballistic Missiles also made it appealing to other countries. India had already acquired and deployed the "Green Pine" Arrow II radar system to supply early warning against Pakistani missile attacks. Turkey is also high on the list of interested countries, along with Japan who is constantly under threat from North Korea’s long range ballistic missiles.
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Part II

Edited by Tomer Yaffe | Translation and editing by Talia Adar