Beating Zika & Making a Difference, Israeli Biofeed Takes on the Challenge

Biofeed is a company with a mission. They’re out to change the world, and they are well on their way towards doing it. Thanks to the Grand Challenges contest hosted in Israel this year, Biofeed has been given 500,000 NIS to continue their research combating the Zika virus. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, the insect responsible for spreading the pernicious virus, has been the subject of the team’s research for some time now, and at last the Israeli corporation is seeing results.

A Global Issue

Zika is commonly misdiagnosed since the symptoms including high fever, rashes, and joint pain, often go unnoticed or misread until later stages. While generally not lethal, the Zika virus is a prolific disease due to its fast and far-reaching method of transmission – the insects bite people and then fly great distances to spread the malady. Aside from being a major discomfort, Zika can cause brain damage to fetuses in-utero and a temporary form of paralysis for the mother. The virus is currently affecting millions of victims across Africa and other poverty-stricken nations. With time though, Biofeed plans to make this problem disappear.

Biofeed to the Rescue

Biofeed is working with a scented poison that will attract and infect these insects, eradicating entire colonies in the process. The substance is perfectly harmless for humans, but it will effectively wipe out these pesky pests.

When asked what the motivation was for such a movement, Mashav, Israel’s agency that deals with International Development Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, director Gil Haskel explains, “Much of the world’s population is suffering from lack of food and access to clean water and exposure to diseases. Israeli entrepreneurs have developed technologies that will improve the quality of life for billions around the world.” Biofeed is one of the companies taking these challenges head on.

Making Waves All Over the World

The Grand Challenges contest is helping Biofeed and other innovative companies complete their altruistic missions. The concept behind the initiative is to connect world-changing technological developments with the entrepreneurship to fund their discoveries. It is their hope that these breakthroughs will help make the world a better place, specifically catering their efforts towards global issues that exist in Africa, South America, Asia, and other problem areas throughout the world.

A nationwide initiative, the Grand Challenge has already seen dramatic results. Nine other companies were also given the grant to further their developments within their specific fields. Some of the other Israeli contestants include Amaizz, a company that is helping Kenya solve their crops issues;  FIT, the creators of expanding prosthetic appendages to help ease the adjustment cycle and pain in children with these needs; and Semorex, a research lab conquering cancer by killing off cancerous cells.

This is the second year Israel is participating in a Grand Challenge contest, and governments, entrepreneurs, and organizations alike are all anxious to see what major results will come out of this pint-sized country.

 

Israeli Ophthalmologist is Saving The World by Changing The Winds

Wind turbines are a popular form of renewable energy that are slowly being adopted all over the world. One of the leading researchers and developers of this earth-friendly alternative is Leviathan Energy Renewables, Ltd. based in Israel. And with traditional Israeli tenacity one scientist is striving to change the world by harnessing these winds. And he is succeeding beyond expectations.

Leviathan Energy Renewables Making Leviathan Changes

Dr. Daniel Farb is the CEO of Leviathan. Together with his team, Farb is revolutionizing the way the world uses this alternative energy source in both its breadth and depth of usability. Farb’s goal is to make this form of renewable energy so efficient that anyone in the world can use it no matter where in the world they are. So not only are Leviathan’s innovations making the wind turbines more powerful, but they are successfully introducing them to areas all over the world that have never been able to utilize such technology before.

Leviathan Across the Globe

Leviathan Energy holds over 30 patents in different countries across the globe including the US, South Africa, Canada, and of course Israel. Some of these innovative concept designs are similar to their previously launched inventions such as wind energizers. These are panels that increase the speed of the wind near the wind turbines, essentially evening out the force of the wind against the turbine for greater efficiency. This can actually be useful in areas that experience lower wind speeds.

So how effective are these Farb-introduced methods? According to the research, previous attempts at improving wind turbine production have been focused on the turbine itself and have yielded approximately 1-2% improvement. In contrast, Leviathan’s methods are seeing as much as 30% increased production levels.

Crowdfunding Their Way to Success

Investors are lining up to fund this project, but everyone wants to see a working prototype first. Since the working turbines of today are generally 80-100 meters wide, Farb is now set on raising $1 million to fund the continuation of his research and development centers. If successful, this one Israeli could impact the climate change dilemma of the entire world.

Israelis Tackle the Aids Crisis with Ancient Medical Treatments

Circumcision has often been viewed as a barbaric practice that should have been left in the Dark Ages from whence it came. However, scientists are discovering now that this medical practice may be more advantageous than they had previously believed.

After years of research and development, Israeli-based and run healthcare technology enterprise Circ MedTech Ltd. has come up with an innovation that uses traditional Jewish circumcisions combined with new technology to effectively fight AIDS.

Skeptical?

See what happened when Israeli delegates brought these devices to Africa…

Background

After a huge number of Soviet Jews entered Israel, an overwhelming demand for circumcisions on adult males arose. This is because the Law of Return gave these men Jewish status, but they had never been ritually circumcised back home. With such a great demand surfacing, medical specialists were pressed to come up with faster, more effective, more cost-efficient, and safer ways to perform the medical procedure on adult males. PrePex entered the picture to satisfy this initial demand, but even more interesting were the discoveries that came later.

During their research, scientists found that the procedure actually helped to reduce the risks of HIV/AIDS within heterosexual males. In fact, incidents were reduced by 70% in individuals who had previously been circumcised. These figures were a shocking revelation, offering a medical opportunity to significantly decrease AIDS infections around the world.

Today, PrePex is being used in over 12 countries across the globe to fight the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus.

PrePex in Africa

Upon its resounding success, the Israeli team decided to take their new invention to Africa in an attempt to help dramatically improve the quality of life in this region through the modern circumcision practice. Though many challenges such as limited hospital space, lack of medical practitioners, and hesitancy from the general population to undertake the surgery, urologists boarded a plane, and the rest is history.

Today citizens across Africa are using the PrePex device to enjoy easy, painless, and cheap circumcisions, along with the dramatic health benefits that come packaged with the deal.

PrePex Gains Global Recognition

PrePex has received world acclaim including winning the Oscars of Silicone Valley 2015 Tech Awards for its tremendous preventive efforts towards one of the world’s greatest health care risks. By taking these devices to large communities throughout Africa, the Israeli initiative is spreading the benefits across the globe.

Other Israeli scientists, including Hebrew University professors Abraham Loyter and Assaf Friedler, have developed a method for destroying harmful HIV cells within the body as well. With such a significant breakthrough in the medical field, the world anxiously awaits the next innovation to come out of Israel.

Israel Is Advancing Collaboration With Developing Countries

Last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu attended the launch of the Knesset Caucus for Israel-Africa Relations where he spoke about promoting and increasing cooperation between Africa and Israel in the areas of health, science, agriculture, tourism, science and cyber technology.

In the presence of Israeli lawmakers and ambassadors from African countries, the Prime Minister said:

“Israel is coming back to Africa. Africa is coming back to Israel. It’s happening in a big way. It’s happening now because it’s so clear that it’s good for Africa and good for Israel.”

A perfect example of advancing this initiative is Netafim’s irrigation solution for a sugar plantation in Ethiopia. Netafim CEO Ran Maidan said, “This is a large international agricultural project, and a strategic project that strengthens Netafim’s business in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular. Netafim was selected to lead the project because of its proven ability to supply advanced end-to-end solutions for large and complex projects, while advising the customers at all stages.”

India is another country benefiting from Israeli innovation.  The Himayat Bagh Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence launched a new initiative to recycle accumulating sewage water and use it to irrigate the Kesar mango crops in India. Israel’s advancements in agricultural innovation and water treatment technology are pivotal in bridging the two countries economically.

Drought-stricken Papua New Guinea received GalMobile water purification vehicles from Israel to convert non-potable water into clean drinking water for millions of its thirsty citizens.

Columbian farmers are cutting back on chemical pesticides with help from Bio-Bee mites, a completely natural way to help eliminate harmful species of spiders that are destroying crops.

A team from Hebrew University is helping Uganda raise an abundant supply of carp fish by applying techniques developed over many years for Israeli fish farmers.

The list of Israeli innovation and technology being shared with the world goes on and on. Hopefully, PM Netanyahu’s future trip to African countries will help cultivate even further cooperation between Africa and Israel.

Israeli Sewage Recycling Technology to Renew Hope for Indian Agriculture

It’s common knowledge that Israelis can work magic in the realm of agriculture and, more specifically, nontraditional irrigation demands. Using their advanced technology, the Israeli government transformed a desert strip into a fruit-bearing produce exporter with delectable produce on-demand in every season.

In an effort to raise productivity throughout India, the two countries partnered up to bring these ground-breaking technologies to Indian soil with positive results all around. This month, the Centre of Excellence launches a new initiative to recycle accumulating sewage water and use it to irrigate the Kesar mango crops.

A Centre is Built & a Partnership is Born

Since its inception several years ago, the Himayat Bagh Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence has been utilizing Israeli technologies, research laboratories, and packaging houses to promote and develop the agricultural sector in the area. With its newest project, the CoE aims to irrigate the mango crops with recycled sewage water from the Salim Ali Lake. While India will be contributing the infrastructure and location for implementing the new system, Israel will provide the training and support for the technology. A perfect combination.

There are currently four centres of excellence peppered across India. Kesar and Alphonso mango centres are in Aurangabad and Dapol respectively. The other two centres are in Rahuri and Nagpur, the former producing bumper crops of pomegranates, and the latter growing citrus fruits.

Addressing the Drought Issue

At an Adhunik Kissan gathering, David Akov, Israeli Consul General, spoke of the recurring drought issue in India. “To overcome the lengthening cycles of drought in Marathwada,’ says Akov, “the region should go [the] Israel way and develop a system for recycling, purifying, storing and conveying treated waste-water when and where farms need it, along with renowned drip-irrigation innovations to use the precious liquid most efficiently for agriculture.”

Israel is quite familiar with this process. Nearly 85% of sewage in Israel is recycled. Amazingly, this recycled sewage accounts for close to half of the crop irrigation needs of the entire country.

Technology Sharing

In addition to the sewage recycling systems, India is interested in implementing several other Israeli technologies that will help boost their agricultural market. Water conservation, post-harvest processing, and drip irrigation systems will all increase crop production and significantly reduce the dismay that many Indian farmers are currently under. Israel is also working side by side with the Indian government to set up administrative divisions in both Yavatmal and Osmanabad to help further the rural integration development efforts within the country.

With all these initiatives in place, it can be said with confidence that the Indo-Israel CoE will produce resounding success for the entire country to enjoy.