Shaul Yalovsky

We have been cooking up this story for a while and we are excited to finally be able to share! Read on if you're interested in whole plant regeneration WITHOUT the application of hormones!

אליבי/אלי אליהו

In back-to-back papers, our lab and the Casal lab tackle the question: How does temperature reshape auxin-driven growth? Together, we reveal that temperature directly rewires ARF behavior. nature.com/articles/s4146…

With missiles raining down across the country and a powerful war raging across the Middle East, life at Tel Aviv University continues in spite of it all. Our students keep learning. Our researchers keep asking hard questions. Our labs, classrooms, and libraries remain places of curiosity, determination, and hope. Because even in difficult times, the pursuit of knowledge doesn’t stop. It moves forward — for Israel, and for the future of humanity. #resilience #amisraelchai #IranWar #campuslife #Israel #EpicFury

Amazing letter by @Cornell President rejecting the resolution. Should be read by all: Dear Zora, Thank you for conveying SA Resolution 61: Calling for the Termination of Cornell University’s Partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology While Preserving Cornell Tech. I reject this resolution, which fundamentally conflicts with Cornell’s principles of academic collaboration and our core commitment to academic freedom. Cornell Tech is not a political entity. It is an academic partnership, created through shared investment by Cornell University, the Technion, and the City of New York for the benefit of the city and the state, according to a negotiated set of conditions that govern its development and the terms of its 99-year ground lease on Roosevelt Island. As one of Cornell University’s many international partnerships and collaborations, Cornell Tech deepens, enriches, and strengthens the ability of our students, faculty, and staff to pursue knowledge and advance the university’s academic mission. The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, the core international partnership upon which Cornell Tech is based, is an extraordinarily valuable collaboration focusing on education and research in health tech, media tech, and urban tech, and supporting the development of new startup companies. Severing our relationship with the Technion—or with any entity affiliated with governments, institutions, or enterprises with which some of our community members disagree—as a statement of political protest, would not only hinder our research, teaching, and public engagement; it would imperil our academic principles. Our university, like all of our peer institutions, regularly faces pressure—from across the political spectrum, from within and beyond our own community—to make academic decisions according to political priorities. The phenomenon is not a new one: universities have grappled with such pressures from governments and societies for as long as the institution of the university has existed. When we yield to these pressures and proscribe specific collaborations or collaborators on grounds other than merit, we compromise our principles of academic freedom, undermine our own institutional excellence, and damage public trust in our work.   Moreover, this resolution inaccurately asserts that “the continued operation of Cornell Tech as a Cornell University campus does not require an ongoing partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.” Cornell Tech, while part of Cornell, is a joint effort of the university, the Technion, and the City of New York. It is no more possible for Cornell to unilaterally terminate that effort and claim full control of the campus than it would be for the Technion or the City of New York to do the same. Finally, I am deeply troubled by the selective manner in which this resolution singles out the Technion, alone of Cornell’s many international partners, for censure. Cornell currently maintains 159 active agreements with institutions in 59 nations and regions; all of these institutions have some government affiliation, and many conduct research with military and security applications. Cornell itself has military research contracts, conducts research with potential military applications, and has relationships with companies whose products are used in military contexts. Cornell also has relationships with institutions in countries whose governments have been accused of human rights violations—as our own has been.  None of these publicly available facts are mentioned in the resolution; only our partnership with an Israeli institution is targeted for erasure. The political bias evident in this selective approach is deeply disturbing, and the resolution is incompatible with both the Student Assembly’s purpose and Cornell University’s core values. I reject it fully and forcefully. Sincerely,   Michael Kotlikoff President and Professor of Molecular Physiology Cornell University

I am a Democrat. I served in the Clinton administration. I did not vote for Donald Trump and am highly unlikely to support him or his acolytes in the future. I also have serious disagreements with many of the Trump administration’s domestic and foreign policies. But it is profoundly disturbing that a growing segment of the far left appears to be almost rooting for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian regime, and other forces fundamentally opposed to the United States and our allies. This seems to reflects a corrosive strain of anti-Americanism, dressed up in postcolonial theory, that risks blinding us to the moral realities of our world and the nature of our adversaries.

@CellReports Congratulations Moran, Eilon and the rest of the of the team

Targeting redundant gene families: A multiplexed, tissue-specific CRISPR toolbox for Arabidopsis genetic screens dlvr.it/TRNgjn

Rama Duwaji, the wife of NY Mayor Mamdani, liked posts praising the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Yet the (embarrassing) New York Times headline describes it as “Support for the Palestinian cause.” In an attempt to downplay the story, the NYT is implying that the “Palestinian Cause” means slaughtering 1,200 Israeli men, women, babies and the elderly, raping men and women, and kidnapping 251 people - including children, babies and grandparents over 80.

A molecular 'gatekeeper' in plants opens the door for beneficial microbes Congratulations, Thomas Ott on a great paper in Science. cibss.uni-freiburg.de/news/a-molecul…

In the spring of 1980, Farrokhroo Parsa — Iran’s Minister of Education before the Islamic Revolution — was executed. She had devoted her life to fighting for women’s rights and did not betray her principles even after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. In the verdict issued by the new authorities, she was found guilty of “spreading corruption on earth and denying Allah.” “I would rather face death with open arms than live in disgrace, forcibly covered with a veil. I will not kneel before those who expect me to repent for half a century of my struggle for equality between men and women. I am not prepared to wear the chador and take a step backward in history,” Parsa wrote in her farewell letter to her children.

30,000 hours of footage, equivalent to 3 years and 7 months, were filmed to capture the blooming of 77 types of flowers, and the result is spectacular.

It is quite revealing that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not attacked Turkey with missiles or drones, where the huge Incirlik Air Base that hosts major US Air Force assets is based, nor did it strike Azerbaijan, which has close military ties with Israel and has a massive amount of Israeli intelligence stations and agents based there. Perhaps Tehran is worried about Turkey being part of NATO and the risk of triggering Article 5, which necessitates collective defense, in addition to Turkey’s powerful military that could carry out aerial and land attacks against Iranian territory. Some have speculated that the Iranian regime’s targeting of Gulf nations is partially nationalistic and ideological in nature, viewing Arabs as inferior politically and militarily, while Turkey is in a league of its own, and Azerbaijan is a majority Shia-Muslim country. Regardless, it appears that even amidst its most serious existential crisis, the Iranian regime understands the risks of hitting countries that are backed by effective and reputable defense pacts and blocs, highlighting just how much the Islamic Republic only fears and respects force and power, not appeasement and acquiescence.

One of the hardest realizations for me after Oct. 7, as an Israeli feminist, was the sense of betrayal by many Western women’s organizations. 1/6>>

@mueda_lab @aribidopsis Beautiful

Excited to share our latest work on bioRxiv! 🌿 We discovered that Ca2+ oscillation occurs in Arabidopsis zygote. Interestingly, instead of F-actin, this Ca2+ wave promotes the turnover of microtubule band to regulate cell elongation. doi.org/10.64898/2026.…

Vaccination with two doses of recombinant zoster vaccine is associated with a 51% lower risk of dementia in adults over 65 years, reports a study published in @NatureComms. go.nature.com/3MONk0o

"Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president... Post-truth wears away the rule of law and invites a regime of myth." I published this piece on January 9th, 2021. Unfortunately, it remains all too relevant.

Could AI be used to understand the complexity of living beings? This is a question medicine laureate Paul Nurse contemplated at our 2025 Nobel Week Dialogue: "If we just take a cell we have thousands of reactions all coordinated and connected in some way to produce overall purpose, and that’s magnified again in living organisms. This is an immensely complex problem. I think, for me, a combination of AI analysis alongside the right type of experimental analysis is needed in the next 30-50 years to held us understand what life is," he said. Watch the full discussion, 'AI’s impact on medicine': nobelprize.org/ais-impact-on-…

New Article: "Arabidopsis IONIC CURRENT FAMILY A proteins facilitate environmental calcium acquisition essential for stress tolerance" rdcu.be/eXFko High-order ica mutants show lower Ca2+ levels and higher stress sensitivity, revealing ICAs’ role in Ca2+ homeostasis.

Can I only speak next to a ‘Hamasnik’ or an anti-Israel voice? Recently, my team and I communicated with the Middle Eastern Studies department of one of the top, most prestigious schools in the United States, and indeed, the world, to discuss an opportunity for me to come and speak to students about my work, Gaza, Realign For Palestine, Hamas, and hopes for a better future. The professor and head of the department were upfront in how terrified they were about the prospect of receiving backlash; they were highly concerned with how I was “perceived” by average “pro-Palestine” students and communities, and said they could face immense backlash for having me on their campus. Despite the individual's personal appreciation for my voice and perspective, they described the terror and fear they live under, thanks to the incitement, insanity, borderline violent activism, and pro-terror sentiments that some students and faculty express. The only way, they said, to have their Ivy League university allow me to speak was to do so next to a “mainstream,” “average,” and “acceptable” Palestinian and “pro-Palestine” voice. Enraged, I asked how has academia declined so much that an independent pro-Palestine, pro-peace, anti-Hamas, anti-violence, anti-military occupation voice such as mine from Gaza is somehow viewed as “controversial” while literal Hamas enthusiasts and anti-America, anti-West, pro-terror students and faculty are somehow considered the “mainstream” of Palestinian communities and societies in the United States? How could it be that a university that helped pioneer technologies, nuclear physics, applied sciences, and modern-day advancements is held hostage by radical, pro-October 7, pro-extremist views? I further inquired directly to this professor how they rationalize intentionally helping to platform such destructive views, which they knew were directly harmful to them, the discourse on Israel and Palestine, and against creating solutions for the future. How could such intelligent people, with skin in the game, be willing to contort themselves to the mob politics? How could someone with this stature continue to consent to participating in the platforming of violent rhetoric and divisive narrative over, or even instead of, perspectives like mine offering pragmatism, engagement, and solutions? The sad truth is that mob politics, aggressive ‘activism’, and dogmatic professors define today’s universities. This is the state of academia today; this is what Ivy Leagues are producing: hordes of students who are bullies, unable to think critically or clearly, and a student life that caters to the most offensive and anti-freedom, anti-intellectual notions of the modern era. I should not and will not be forced to speak alongside other “pro-Palestine” voices, who openly are the antithesis of the values and principles of non-violence, pragmatism, and centering Gazan voices and experiences. I will oppose every attempt to make my appearance somehow ‘more acceptable’ to elite universities in the West by tainting my pro-peace message or acquiescing to self-righteous teens and misinformed faculty. It's a shame that taxpayer dollars continue to fund the indoctrination of the next generation of supposed “leaders” who are going to limit academic freedoms and progress through censorship and their mob-like behavior.

Over the next 48 hours, which will mark the 2nd annual horrendous and painful memory of the October 7 massacre that initiated the current horror in Gaza and beyond, you will see numerous accounts trying to whitewash Hamas’s murderous fascism and barbaric criminality as a ‘positive’ evolution that helped the Palestinian cause. You will see endless posts about Israel being isolated, how Europeans are protesting in massive numbers for Palestine, and how social media is flooded with images of dead and suffering Palestinians to raise awareness, as if those are all markers and metrics for success and progress. “Pro-Palestine” activists and voices will lie to you that a bunch of useless protests, ineffective encampments, hateful online campaigns, and repulsive talking points should be celebrated as the ultimate success of October 7 to isolate Israel, expose Zionism, confront the occupation, and delegitimize Western double standards. These same people will not tell you that Israel is a resilient nation that has been able to significantly beat back the “axis of resistance” led by Iran. They will not tell you that their stupidity led to the election of a US administration that is quite aligned with the current Israeli government. They will not tell you how Israel recently deployed a super laser capable of shooting down rockets and missiles. They will not tell you how the far right was empowered in Israel by October 7 to initiate land seizures and violence in the West Bank like never before, and that the October 7 massacre handed the Palestinian people over on a silver platter to the most far-right government in Israel’s history. They will not tell you that the cost of Hamas’s supposed resistance has been the annihilation of generations of the Palestinian people in Gaza and beyond. They won’t speak of the massive destruction to Gaza, which has been set back by fifty years and will require miracles of biblical proportions to rejuvenate and revitalize. They will skip over the trauma caused by Hamas’s October 7 massacre and how the majority of Gazans want to leave the coastal enclave and want nothing to do with the Palestinian cause, Jerusalem, the West Bank, the right of return, and ending the occupation. They couldn’t care less about anything but their mere survival. Indeed, the devolution of large segments of the Western-based “pro-Palestine” movement into outright fascist, violent, antisemitic hatred, and disregard for any pragmatic considerations may indeed be the beginning of the end of effective “pro-Palestine” advocacy that can get anything done through its Western privilege to actually help the Palestinian people. October 7 triggered the radicalization and ultimately the destruction of the pro-Palestine movements, academics, journalists, influencers, and politicians who are now so entrenched in their divisive rhetorical thinking and sloganeering that they are effectively irrelevant and impotent. Remember October 7, 2023, as either the beginning of the end of the Palestinian cause and the “pro-Palestine” discourse, or possibly, and hopefully, a new era of radical pragmatism to register how Israelis’ and Palestinians’ intricately interconnected, inescapably interlinked fates and lives are, necessitating level heads to prevail and more rational voices to rise. Bless all the souls who have lost their lives since October 7, and may their forced sacrifices, which they did not choose, not go in vain.