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NEWS FROM ISRAEL & AROUND THE WORLD


Intelligence Report


n Israel’s Vast Amounts of Oil Buried Deep


“ … when these things begin to take place … lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)


SEPT. 7, 2010—Noble Energy, senior partner in Israel’s promising Leviathan gas drill, has estimated that the oil reserves located under the site’s gas reserves may fill up to three bil- lion barrels. Noble’s only reservation is that the res-


ervoir is located under a deep layer of rock, and it is unclear whether it can be fully de- pleted. According to the company’s assess-


ments, preliminary tests ahead of drilling will begin in October, at a cost of $150 million, and during the drilling a rig with more pow- erful drilling capabilities will be on standby. The Leviathan gas reserves, located


some 120 kilometers west of Israel, are be- lieved to contain more than 453 billion cubic meters with the probability of extracting gas


from the site at fifty percent. SOURCE: Israel21c


n The Gene at the Heart of Pain AUGUST 23, 2010—A gene associated with susceptibility to chronic pain caused by nerve injury in humans has been identified by a team of Israeli and international researchers, offering hope of new treatments for sufferers everywhere. Chronic pain affects about 20 percent of adults worldwide,


and can range from persistent headaches, to back pain, the pain of arthritis, and even psychogenic pain, where doctors can’t find the cause for a constant pain. While it is recognized that some people are more suscep-


tible than others to chronic pain, no one knows why. Given the same injury and the same operation, people will suffer variable degrees of pain, even under nearly identical circumstances. Now researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem


(HUJ), the University of Toronto in Canada, Sanofi-Aventis in Germany, and the Karolinska Institute Center for Oral Biology in Sweden believe they may have found the answer in genetics. “The immediate significance is the mere awareness that


differences in pain perception may have a genetic predisposi- tion,” says prof. Ariel Darvasi of the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University. “Our discovery may provide insights for treating chronic pain through previously unthought-of mechanisms.” Darvasi and colleagues identified a region of mouse chro- mosome 15 that likely contained a genetic variant or variants


n Jerusalem Ranked Top World Destination SEPTEMBER 13, 2010—Jerusalem is ranked among the top ten travel destinations and described as having “profound cultural and historical significance” by the travel website Trip Advisor. Readers of the site ranked Jerusalem in seventh place, above London,


Istanbul, and Venice. They ranked the Italian city of Florence in first place, fol- lowed by Washington D.C., Rome, and Paris. “Plan on seeing the major sights,” the website suggests, “but also leave


plenty of time to walk through the streets and simply immerse yourself in the daily life of such an ancient and revered place.” Trip Advisor is a free website that provides extensive travel information on


destinations all around the globe, with most of the content being consumer- generated. In July, the prestigious National Geographic magazine ranked Tel Aviv as one of the world’s top ten beach cities, alongside Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Nice


(on the French Riviera), and Cape Town. SOURCE: Israel21c


www.JewishVoiceToday.org


contributing to pain. However, this region contains many genes, and the responsible variant remained unknown. Darvasi and his team, which includes prof. Marshall Devor of the Hebrew Univer- sity, undertook two fine-mapping approaches to narrow down the chromosomal locus to an interval of 155 genes. By applying bioinformatics approaches and whole ge-


nome microarray analysis, they were able to confidently identify a single gene, Cacgn2, as the likely candidate. In mouse experi- ments, the researchers were able to confirm that Cacgn2 has a functional role in pain. To find out whether the human version of the gene also


plays a part in chronic pain, the scientists then analyzed a group of breast cancer patients who experienced chronic pain more than six months after they had undergone removal or partial removal of a breast. The researchers found that genetic variants of Cacng2 were significantly associated with this chronic pain. While cautioning that this association will need further


analysis, the researchers say that the result suggests that this gene is an important factor in experiencing pain. The work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation, the Hebrew Univer- sity Center for Research on Pain, the Canada Research Chair Pro-


gram, and the European Community’s 6th Framework Program. Source: Israel21c


n Amano Chides Iran for Not Cooperating with Inspectors SEPTEMBER 13, 2010—International Atomic Emergency Agency chief Yukiya Amano warned that he cannot con- firm that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful, because Teheran is not fully cooperating with his inspectors. Amano also chided Iran for barring some of those inspectors and for stonewalling his agency’s attempt


to probe allegations that Teheran is interested in developing atomic arms. Amano spoke at the start of a 35-nation board meeting of the IAEA. Iran insists that its nuclear activities are meant only to generate energy but is under UN sanctions for


refusing to stop uranium enrichment, which can be used both to make fuel and fissile nuclear warhead mate- rial.


The Sept. 13 report, released by the IAEA, expressed concern over Iran’s increased uranium stockpile and


the Islamic Republic’s refusal to fully cooperate with UN inspectors. Iran recently decided to strip two experienced inspectors of the right to monitor Tehran’s nuclear ac-


tivities after they reported undeclared nuclear experiments conducted by the Islamic Republic. Iran said the reporting by the two was inaccurate, but the IAEA stands by their findings. Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi responded to the IAEA report, stating that Tehran has the right to bar


some UN inspectors from monitoring its disputed nuclear program. SOURCE: Israel21c


NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 Jewish Voice Today | 21


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