By Tamar Zehavi Being a part of the field of anaerobic microbiology, it's always better to learn from the best. My story begins with an email invitation by Prof. Paul J. Weimer, who recently retired from the USDA. I was invited to Wisconsin to learn from him about his methods of growing rumen microorganisms and I, of course, happily accepted the offer. After several months of trying to find the 'right time' for all parties included, I started my journey at the Ben Gurion airport, Tel-Aviv. … [Read more...]

by Sarah Morais WASTE2FUELS aims to develop next generation biofuel technologies capable of converting agrofood waste (AFW) streams into high quality biobutanol. This European Union project is a cooperation between 20 groups (both industries and academic) from 8 countries including two groups Israel (Weizmann and us at BGU). This common effort aims to achieve a huge task: convert food detritus to alcool (butanol) that could be used as a fuel. While other partners are trying to … [Read more...]

The Ultimate Project Student   The Mizrahi lab already has three full-functioning (and quite pricey) robots that can do almost anything (they can't make coffee yet, but it's a work in process). In other words, we aren't looking for pipetting robot-students. Project students are, undoubtedly, an inseparable part of our research team and the Mizrahi lab family. As such, we see them as a great asset. As routine is the enemy of creativity, sometimes a fresh and objective perspective can be … [Read more...]

Hey, I'm Tamar. I completed my Master's degree and continued to a Ph.D. while focusing on community assembly. How communities come to be? It is a question asked by researchers across many disciplines. It has been studied throughout history [1] to this day, involving sociology, economy, biology, and statistics and is dated back to ancient Greece, Rome, India, and China with the study of human demography. In ecology it has been studied as well for various reasons such as rehabilitating … [Read more...]

Despite the seemingly limitless knowledge mankind possesses nowadays, it is surprising how relatively little we know about the estimated 100 trillion bacterial cells that reside on and inside us (~10 times as many cells as the human body). Just like fingerprints, the microbial composition of each microbiome is individual to each human being. The love-hate relationship we have with these bugs can either benefit or hinder us (relationship status: 'it's complicated'). Just like every other couple, … [Read more...]

I’m David, in my second year of postdoc in the lab, and my problem are plasmids. To tell you how I got there I need to explain a bit. I did my PhD in a molecular evolution Lab with Prof. Tal Dagan in Kiel university, Germany. Back then we were interested in the evolution of specific genes. What always became a topic was horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Microbes are able to transfer DNA from one cell to another and thereby exchange functional genes, one way to do that is via transfer of a … [Read more...]

Hi, I'm Goor, PhD candidate and a proud member of the Microbial Ecogenomics group at BGU, under the supervision of Professor Itzik Mizrahi. My research is focused on the rumen microbiome and its link to host traits and cow’s genetics. Why milking cows, why microbiome, why is it important? Milking cows are a universal food resource and milk and its products are being consumed over all five continents with average consumption ranging from 10g/day in the area of Maslya and Indonesya, … [Read more...]