The human immune system canuse proteins from melanoma,the most serious type of skin

cancer, to kill off cancer cells,according to researchers at Tel AvivUniversity.

A small group of proteins of the Ras“family” controls a large number ofcellular functions, including cellgrowth, differentiation and survival;because the protein has a hand in cel-lular division, mutated Ras – whichcan be detected in one-third of alltumors – contributes to many humancancers by allowing for the rapidgrowth of diseased cells.

Prof. Yoel Kloog of Tel Aviv Universi-ty’s neurobiology department, Dr. Ita-mar Goldstein of TAU’s Sackler Facul-ty of Medicine and the Sheba Medical

Center and colleagues have foundcancer-promoting oncogenic Ras canalso alert the immune system to thepresence of cancer cells. The teampublished their findings in the Journalof Immunology.

For the first time, the researchershave shown the transfer of onco-genic Ras in human cells frommelanoma cells to T cells, which arewhite blood cells in the immune sys-tem. This transfer allows the immunecells to gather crucial intelligence onwhat they are fighting and developthe necessary cytokines, or signallingmolecules, to kill the melanoma cells.Kloog suggests that a drug thatenhances the transfer of the onco-gene from the tumor to the immunecells is a potential therapy to aug-ment the anti-cancer immuneresponse.

Although they found that immunecells often exchange proteins among

themselves, the discovery thatmelanoma cells transfer mutated Rasis an intriguing first. And it’s this initialtransfer that begins a “positive feed-back loop” – the scientists incubatedT-cells from patients with humanmelanoma cells that had originatedfrom tumors. They uncovered a cir-cuit that runs between the cancer andimmune cells. Once the melanomacells pass oncogenic Ras to the T-cells,the T-cells are activated and begin toproduce cytokines, which enhancestheir capacity to kill cancer cells.

As these melanoma cells passalong the mutated Ras, the immunecells become increasingly active.Eventually, enough oncogenicmaterial is transferred across theimmune cells’ threshold, causingthe T-cells to act on the melanomacells from which the oncogenic Raswas derived. Ultimately, this transfertips the scales in favor of the

immune cells, the researchers say.The next step is to develop a thera-

py to enhance the transfer in patientswith cancers linked to oncogenic Ras.Although their research has so farfocused on melanoma, which isknown to elicit the response of theimmune system, he believes that thisfinding could be applicable to othertypes of cancers. The researchersbelieve their research will lead to abetter understanding of how theimmune system fights tumors.

“It’s a part of the interactionbetween cancer and the immune sys-tem that is not well known,” they said.“We are trying to gather more com-prehensive data on all the proteinsthat are being passed around andhow this information impacts theimmune system’s response to cancer.”

GREEN IS BEAUTIFULWomen who drink green tea may

lower their risk of developing somedigestive system cancers, especiallycancers of the stomach, esophagusand colon/rectum, according to astudy led by researchers from Van-derbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Ten-nessee. The study was headed byProf. Sarah Nechuta and publishedin the American Journal of ClinicalNutrition.

To determine green tea’s impact oncancer risk, the investigators surveyedwomen enrolled in the ShanghaiWomen’s Health Study, a population-based study of approximately 75,000middle-aged and older Chinesewomen. During the initial interviewparticipants were asked if they dranktea, the type of tea consumed andhow much they consumed. Most ofthe Chinese women reported drink-ing primarily green tea.

The researchers found that regulartea consumption, defined as tea con-sumption at least three times a weekfor more than six months, was associ-ated with a 17 percent reduced risk of

all digestive cancers combined. A fur-ther reduction in risk was found to beassociated with an increased level oftea drinking. Specifically, those whoconsumed about two to three cupsper day (at least 150 grams of teamonthly) had a 21% reduced risk ofdigestive system cancers, especiallystomach/esophageal and colorectalcancers.

“For all digestive system cancerscombined, the risk was reduced by27% among women who had beendrinking tea regularly for at least 20years,” said Nechuta. “For colorectalcancer, risk was reduced by 29%among the long-term tea drinkers.These results suggest long-termcumulative exposure may be particu-larly important.”

Tea contains polyphenols or naturalchemicals that include catechins likeEGCG and ECG. Catechins haveantioxidant properties and may inhib-it cancer by reducing DNA damageand blocking tumor cell growth andinvasion.

He was not a Jew, knew noth-ing about Judaism and nevervisited the Jewish state,which was founded six yearsbefore his tragic suicide by

cyanide poisoning in 1954. But Israelilovers of computers and technology haveenough of a fond spot in their hearts tobuild and appreciate a long-term exhibit atJerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum toAlan Turing, the British “father” of com-puter science and artificial intelligence.

As Israelis are leading entrepreneurs incomputer software and hardware, itseemed almost mandatory that an exhibitto mark the centennial of Turing’s birth beestablished here as a testament to the manwho had so many talents and sufferedsuch a tragic end.

The exhibit, due to remain as a showcaseat Bloomfield near the Israel Museum for afew years and suited for children aged eightand up, is titled CAPTCHA. This stands forCompletely Automated Public Turing testto tell Computers and Humans Apart. Thisis similar to online human verification,where web pages ask users to type in lettersand numbers to verify that they are humanand not an automated program trying touse a service without authorization.

The idea for an Israeli centennial exhibitwas originally suggested by a computer sci-entist at the Weizmann Institute of Scienceand Tel Aviv University, and as it took timeto build it, it has opened closer to Turing’s101st birthday.

The CAPTCHA exhibit at Bloomfield isopen from Monday to Thursday between10:00 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Friday from 10a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m.to 3 p.m.

The exhibit, on an upper floor on themuseum’s newer wing, was opened recent-ly by a VIP audience which includedJerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat; Harry Bloom-field, who with his now-disabled mother,Neri, financed the museum; BloomfieldMuseum director Maya Halevy; Intel Israelgeneral manager, Kiryat Gat Fab 28 plantmanager and Intel Corporation vice presi-dent Maxine Fassberg; and former HebrewUniversity president and Einstein expertProf. Hanoch Gutfreund.

The museum was opened to the public inthe Givat Ram quarter in the summer of1992. The museum was created at the ini-tiative of HU Prof. Peter Hillman, whoserved as its founding director. Its estab-lishment was made possible through closecollaboration with HU and the JerusalemFoundation through a generous donationfrom the Bloomfield family in Canada.From the outset, the museum’s goals wereto increase interest among the general pub-lic in science and technology in the worldaround us, promote excellency in sciencesamong youth and present science andtechnology as an integral part of humanculture.

About 120 guests were present at the cer-emony in the museum’s auditorium.

THE ELECTRONIC computer was inventedseven decades ago – although came intocommon use less than 30 years ago – andhas already pushed its way into every

aspect of our lives. It is so all-encompassingthat we often forget to ask ourselves whatthe meaning of this amazing device is,what the scientific basis for it is, and howit affects scientific thought in the presentand future.

At the main entrance to the exhibit, thevisitor has to make a choice – either walkthrough a passageway, causing his body totrigger a vote on the question of whethercomputers will some day fall in love or walkthrough another that rejects this idea. Thesecond clearly seemed to be the majorityview of the seemingly unromantic crowd.

Turing, a mathematician who foresawthe computer already in 1936, did askthese questions, and he understood then,at a time before there were computers, thatthe device would serve as a mirror withwhich we can examine the essence of thebrain and our consciousness. This philo-sophical breakthrough places computer sci-ence at the front of modern science andallows computer science to deal with chal-lenging and fascinating problems.

Computers used to be huge, requiring awhole room to carry out the functions thatany cellphone or laptop does today.Although we’ve advanced incredibly inminiaturization and improving theirpower, it’s not so clear whether we’vestopped to think about the their impact onus and society.

The science museum’s special exhibit isdedicated not to the technical nuts andbolts of how computers function but tophilosophical questions surrounding com-puter usage, all of which have daily practicalapplications. These “thinking machines”produce powerful coding that enables bank-ing and commerce on the Internet; newresearch tools used in all fields of humanendeavor; global communication networksthat have changed the face of society, poli-tics and relationships and medical tech-nologies that save and improve lives. AsIsrael is such an important center in theresearch and development of all these,CAPTCHA presents the Israeli achievementsin these fields.

There are dials with Hebrew, Arabic andEnglish characters for creating and decodingencryptions, teasers such as whether a wash-ing machine is a computer and a variety ofpuzzles in which colorful geometric figureshave to be sequenced on a board. The roomsare very colorful, with red and metallic col-ors predominant and a large amount ofshiny, transparent acrylic.

“What are the limits of computers’ abili-ties, and what will it never be able to com-pute?” is one of the questions posed by theexhibit. Will the computer surpass us in itswisdom and will it ever reach a level of con-sciousness similar to ours? Can a computerbe creative? What does all of this say aboutus and our thoughts? What is the scientificbasis on which the meaning of the comput-er stands? What is the computer’s impact onscientific thinking? Are there limits to acomputer’s ability to calculate? Are comput-ers creative? Do they cultivate wisdom orfoster self-awareness, or the opposite? Howdoes all this impact our minds?

Turing formalized the concepts of algo-rithm and computation with the Turing

machine, which its namesake created in1936 as a hypothetical device that manipu-lates symbols on a strip of tape according toa collection of rules. It was quite simple, butit nevertheless could be used to simulate thelogic of any algorithm and helps explainhow a computer’s central processing unit(CPU) works.

Turing ended his his life ended when hewas only 42. As homosexual acts were thenillegal in England, he agreed to chemicalcastration to avoid being jailed. Before thesetragic events, the neatly combed, good-look-ing Turing found time to be a philosopherand technologist, mathematician and codebreaker, thinker and doer. His photographand details about his life were hang at theentrance to the exhibit.

As a homosexual, he has no living descen-dants except for a nephew, and he personal-ly never enjoyed the recognition hedeserved. But now, 100 years and eightmonths after his birth, he is getting it.

MAYOR BARKAT clearly felt comfortable atthe exhibit. Sitting in front of a display nextto Fassberg, he even tried – unsuccessfully –to win a game of tic-tac-toe against a com-puter that set down the rules.

“PCs came out when I was a child, and myfather – a professor of physics – taught mehow to write code in BASIC. I served in thearmy for six years and then heard that thefirst computer virus hit the Hebrew Univer-

sity via the Internet,” Barkat related. Hedeveloped a pioneering program to fightviruses and diversified into security softwarethrough his company BRM, which becamethe hugely successful Checkpoint, thatbegan with firewalls.

“It required a high level of creativity. Ilook back and think that we had a greatopportunity to be expert in technology atyoung age. It gave us a big advantage. Com-

puters for me were like ABC. Even today Iuse tools I learned then.”

The Turing exhibit, the mayor continued,will stimulate interest among young people,not just to spend their time on Facebookand Google but how we got there. “As ahands-on museum, it encourages kids to trythings out,” he said.

Fassberg, who was praised for her ability tomake partnerships and is a member ofBloomfield’s board, helped finance theexhibit along with Google Israel, Check-point and others.

“Maureen is excellent in making partner-ships; they make museum what it is,”Barkat said.

EXHIBIT CURATOR Nathan Zeldis, whowas an engineer at Intel Israel for 26 yearsbut in recent years has worked solo as anorganization expert, said he hopes comput-ers will continue to make the world a betterplace. He previously designed two otherexhibits at Bloomfield. Spending a year onthis one – the first six months just develop-ing the concept – he became one of theworld’s experts on Turing.

There are other Turing centennialexhibits, especially in London, andJerusalem’s is small by comparison, but it isnevertheless very impressive. Educationalitems throughout the five rooms that com-prise it were designed and built solely by themuseum staff.

“Most Israelis don’t know much or any-thing about Turing,” Zeldis stated, but therehave been some shows on TV, and somehave heard about Enigma, the codemachine used by the Nazis during WorldWar II. Turing was part of the British teamthat worked on breaking the Enigmaencryption. The Enigma device, which isdisplayed in the exhibit, produced excellentintelligence for the Allies and made a hugecontribution to their victory.

Although some critics could argue thatchildren and teens who visit the exhibitmay be lazy and just play with geographicalpuzzles, push and pull levers and practiceencryption but not exert themselves to real-ly understand the scientific principlesbehind them, Zeldis asserted that young

people can start by playing and eventuallyfall in love with science.

“There are children who will inevitablybecome scientists because nothing can pre-vent them; there are those who will neverbe interested in it whatever you do; andthen there are youngsters who just need apush and will go for it, even though theyinitially held no interest in it. We meant theexhibit for them.”

SCIENCE & HEALTH6 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 0 , 2 0 1 3 T H E J E R U S A L E M P O S T

Might computersone day fall

in love?Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Museum

of Science has created a memorial to the tragic ‘father’ of computer

science, Alan Turing, and aims to get youth interested in the field. Judy Siegel-Itzkovich reports

• By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

HEALTH SCAN

Can cancer be turned against itself?

Alan Turing (above right); main exhibit hall; Enigma machine; how to code and decode(Courtesy: Bloomfield Science Museum); Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Intel-Israel’sMaxine Fassberg play tic-tac-toe (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich)

(Jud

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