The American Technion Society (ATS)

provides critical support to the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, ranked among the world's leading science and technology universities.

Technion Innovation Stops Terrorism and Saves Israeli Lives

Technion's Major Security Breakthroughs

Read about Professor Marmur's Expertise on the Generic Approach to Homeland Security

Prof. Abraham Marmur is Technion's top expert on the meeting point between the scientific community and the growing scourge of international terror. Prof. Marmur serves as the Head of the Center for Security Science and Technology, an organization that coordinates anti-terror research being done in many labs on campus. Established in 2002, the Center represents a unique strategy for fighting terror: one that emphasizes generic tools, rather than specific solutions. According to Marmur, such a "generic" approach will help the civilized world respond more effectively as new threats appear.

"The generic approach is about identifying common building blocks of terrorist activity, and creating general techniques that can be used to build specific countermeasures as needed," says Marmur. "Rather than amassing a complete arsenal of devices -- devices that would become obsolete in any case as terror tactics change -- such techniques would help us optimize our response to terror, and quickly meet the challenge of a variety of unpredictable threats."

"In Israel, we're all too used to terror attacks," says Marmur, adding that Israel's defensive tactics have evolved slowly, in response to continuous, low-level threats. "After 9/11, when terror was recognized as a global problem, there were massive efforts to create technologies for homeland security. But because of the difficulty of anticipating specific dangers, these efforts have not been sufficiently effective."

According to Marmur, the biggest problem in fighting terror is technological asymmetry. "The technologies used by terrorists are relatively simple, easy to obtain and inexpensive. Homeland security technologies, on the other hand, are sophisticated, expensive and can take a long time to develop. Consequently, homeland security lacks the flexibility it needs to meet the challenge."

Read about Professor Baasov's Research on Anthrax

Prof. Timor Baasov is an authority on anthrax: a spore-forming bacterium that causes acute breathing problems, shock, and eventually, death. In its natural form, anthrax is of little danger to humans. However, laboratory-altered anthrax -- like the white powder that caused five deaths in the United States in 2001 -- is the stuff of bio-terror.

"All bacteria have evolutionary defenses that make them very hard to destroy," says Baasov, who has built his career by designing "smart" antibiotics that take such defenses into account. Anthrax, however, is particularly dangerous because once it gets into the body it multiplies very quickly, releasing lethal toxins into the blood. As a result, by the time one feels sick, it's too late for treatment."

Baasov's answer to the anthrax challenge involved making a tiny change to an organic molecule: turning that molecule into one that attacks and destroys the bacterium itself. And in terms of containing anthrax-based bio-terror, this "double-duty" makes all the difference.

"Terrorists can create different strains of anthrax, and other toxin-producing bacteria in a matter of weeks," says Baasov, who holds a patent for his dual-action molecular agents. "We need a technique that will allow us to create molecules that will target specific, resistant strains and destroy both the bacteria and the toxin. Our work shows how this can be done."