Israelis and Palestinians collaborate on nanotech

Jerusalem universities are establishing a nanotechnology laboratory and have found a new method for diagnosing bilharzia.

Two new projects have brought together scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Al-Quds University . Researchers from the two universities have succeeded in developing a method for checking the level of risk in bilharzia, which has been adopted by the World Health Organization and will soon be applied in Nigeria. At the same time, in the field of nanotechnology in which the two universities have been collaborating for a long time, an Israeli-Palestinian-Hungarian joint project has been established, sponsored and funded by the Hungarian Embassy in Israel.

The nanotechnology connection was made by Prof. Mukhlas Swani, during his postdoctoral studies at the Hebrew University, with Prof. Daniel Porath, his partner in this project. "Cooperation between Al-Quds University and the Hebrew University has been taking place for years," said Prof. Swani. "After completing my studies at the Hebrew University, I moved to Al-Quds University, and I set up among other things with help from researchers at the Hebrew University an innovative and advanced nanotechnology laboratory, with support from the EU."

Laszlo Korani, the Economic Attache at the Hungarian Embassy in Tel Aviv, conceived the idea of bringing Hungary into the story. "One of the roles of the embassy is to encourage joint Hungarian-Israeli research. I read the autobiography of Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University, and I then knew that I also wanted to strengthen the connection to his university. It was only natural to build on cooperation that already existed and to add our sponsorship to it."

"Al-Quds has no problems about cooperating with Israeli organizations," adds Korani, "which cannot be said about other universities in the West Bank."

The cooperation between the Hebrew University and Al-Quds University will also include the setting up of a science museum at Al-Quds with assistance from the Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem.

It is still not clear what the precise nature of the nanotechnology cooperation will be but the Israelis and Palestinians will meet in Hungary next week to decide on the planned projects.

The bilharzia project is the fruit of cooperation between Prof. Joseph Hamburger of the Hebrew University and Dr. Ibrahim Abassi of Al-Quds University, a former student of the Hebrew University.

"The accepted way to diagnose if an area is infected with bilharzia is by surveying the residents. But the residents do not always make a connection between anemia and their lack of ability to concentrate and the disease, so that organizations like the WHO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that generously distribute drugs think that the problem has been eradicated, when it still exists," explains Prof. Hamburger.

"We have developed a simple method for locating the parasite (that causes bilharzia) that is only a little bit more expensive than the questionnaires. We hope to develop the discovery into a commercial product."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 7, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

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