Author: AUFTAU

Did Child Labor Fuel the Ancient Pottery Industry?

Written by AUFTAU on 15 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University and the National Museum in Copenhagen analyzed 450 pottery vessels made in Tel Hama, a town at the edge of the Ebla Kingdom, one of the most important Syrian kingdoms in the Early Bronze Age (about 4,500 years ago). They found that two-thirds of the pottery vessels were made by children – starting at the ages of seven and eight. Along with children’s use for the kingdom’s needs, they also found evidence of the children’s independent creations outside the industrial framework, illustrating the spark of childhood even in early urban societies. The research was led by Dr. Akiva Sanders, a Dan David Fellow at the Entin Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University. The findings were published in the journal Childhood in the Past.

Dr. Akiva Sanders.

Dr. Sanders: “Our research allows us a rare glimpse into the lives of children who lived in the area of the Ebla Kingdom, one of the oldest kingdoms in the world. We discovered that at its peak, roughly from 2400 to 2000 BCE, the cities associated with the kingdom began to rely on child labor for the industrial production of pottery. The children worked in workshops starting at the age of seven, and were specially trained to create cups as uniformly as possible – which were used in the kingdom in everyday life and at royal banquets”.

As is well known, a person’s fingerprints do not change throughout their life. For this reason, the size of the palm can be roughly deduced by measuring the density of the margins of the fingerprint – and from the size of the palm, the age and sex of the person can estimated. The pottery from Tel Hama, on the southern border of the Kingdom of Ebla, was excavated in the 1930s, and since then has been kept in the National Museum in Denmark. From the analysis of the fingerprints of the pottery, it appears that most of them were made by children. In the city of Hama city, two-thirds of the pottery was made by children. The other third was created by older men.

“At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, some of the world’s first city-kingdoms arose in the Levant and Mesopotamia,” says Dr. Sanders. “We wanted to use the fingerprints on the pottery to understand how processes such as urbanization and the centralization of government functions affected the demographics of the ceramic industry. In the town of Hama, an ancient center for the production of ceramics, we initially see potters around the age of 12 and 13, with half the potters being under 18, and with boys and girls in equal proportions. This statistic changed with the formation of the Kingdom of Ebla when we saw that potters started to produce more goblets for banquets. And since more and more alcohol-fueled feasts were held, the cups were frequently broken – and therefore more cups needed to be made. Not only did the Kingdom begin to rely more and more on child labor, but the children were trained to make the cups as similar as possible. This is a phenomenon we also see in the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America: it is very easy to control children and teach them specific movements to create standardization in handicrafts”.

However, there was one bright spot in the children’s lives: making tiny figurines and miniature vessels for themselves. “These children taught each other to make miniature figurines and vessels, without the involvement of the adults,” says Dr. Sanders. “It is safe to say that they were created by children – and probably including those skilled children from the cup-making workshops. It seems that in these figurines the children expressed their creativity and their imagination”.

“I Applied to Several Universities, But TAU’s Documentary Film Program Stood Out”

Written by AUFTAU on 10 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

Kristoffer Brugada is now in his second year of the international MFA in Documentary Cinema at Tel Aviv University. Currently working on his final project, a documentary on gay conversion therapy in the Philippines, Brugada reflects on his time in the program and the valuable lessons he’s gained.

Choosing TAU

In 2022, Brugada was searching for a master’s program that would help him grow as a filmmaker. “I applied to several universities, but Tel Aviv University’s program stood out. When I compared the curriculum, it felt more comprehensive in terms of what they teach and the topics discussed in class,” he says. A scholarship from TAU was another deciding factor in his choice.

MFA class

The diversity of the class and the collaborative nature of the program were also a strong draw. “Our class was a mix of ages and backgrounds, from filmmakers to urban planners. We had heated discussions, especially in the ethics class, but we learned so much from each other.

“Documentary filmmaking may be a solitary job, but making a film is a collaborative effort, and I loved that we supported each other.”

In addition, Brugada appreciates the progressive outlook of Tel Aviv University.

Refining Technique and Debating Ethics

As a filmmaker with 20 years of experience in TV production and independent documentaries, Brugada wasn’t new to the world of film. Yet, the program’s hands-on directing courses taught by top Israeli practitioners allowed him to experiment with new techniques and refine his craft. “I’ve done documentaries before, but the program pushed me to further develop my style. The directing courses gave me the freedom to experiment and find my voice,” he says.

Throughout the program, Brugada did several creative assignments that allowed him to apply what he was learning. These projects involved shooting, editing, and directing his own films. One of his notable assignments was a documentary on the Filipino community in Tel Aviv.

“I introduced my classmates to my culture through the Filipino workers here in Israel.”

His project on the annual beauty pageants for caregivers, a beloved tradition from the Philippines that has made its way to Israel, was a hit with his classmates. “They found it fascinating how these caregivers, despite their hard work, still found joy in community events.”

Brugada’s short on beauty pageants in Israel

The university provided equipment, including Sony FS5 cameras and editing suites, but Kristoffer brought his own gear, which allowed him to film more flexibly.

“The equipment at the university is great. As a teacher back in the Philippines, I really appreciated the quality of the resources available at TAU.”

As for the theoretical courses, the one on ethics in documentary filming stood out the most. The course focused on the responsibilities filmmakers have when dealing with real people: “We have to assess what we can show and how it impacts both the audience and the subjects. I really loved those discussions,” he recalls. The program’s emphasis on ethical considerations helped him navigate sensitive topics, like the subject of his final film, with care and respect.

On top of that, getting to know more about the Israeli cinema landscape and learning about new theories of documentary filmmaking was something Brugada liked a lot.

Bringing the Vision to Life

During the second year, students work on their final project, a documentary film that they create individually or in teams. Brugada’s project, Going Straight, tackles a sensitive topic of gay conversion therapy in the Philippines.

“I wanted the film to be a venue for discussion about extreme fundamentalism and giving grace, love, and understanding instead of judgment.”

During Pride March shoot in Tel Aviv

The topic has been on his mind since 2017, but it was at TAU that he found the support and resources to bring the project to life.

“The university’s Blavatnik Fund gave me financial support to finish the film.”

TAU professors, including Ran Tal and Netalie Braun, provided guidance on how to shape the narrative and decide which scenes to include. “We had to present sample scenes to the final film committee, who then gave us advice on which direction to take. Their feedback was crucial in helping me refine the story,” he says.

Brugada (right) with fellow students during Cinematography class

Now in post-production stage, Brugada plans to submit Going Straight to international festivals, with hopes of premiering it at a top-tier event.

“I want to show it to the world. It’s a story that needs to be told, and I’m grateful to TAU for giving me the support to tell it.”

Filmmaking, Teaching, and New Career Milestones

Brugada’s journey as a filmmaker doesn’t stop at the completion of his final project. In fact, he’s already sharing his knowledge and experience with the next generation of filmmakers.

“I’ve been teaching documentary production, screenwriting, and television production for a while now.”

After finishing his MFA, he hopes to continue teaching, potentially at the master’s level, and is even considering pursuing a PhD.

In addition, Brugada has also been invited to serve on the jury at the prestigious Japan Prize, a festival focused on educational media. “It’s a great opportunity to engage with filmmakers from around the world and see the incredible work being done in the field of educational film and television,” he says.

With his film nearing completion, his teaching responsibilities growing, and exciting opportunities like the Japan Prize ahead, Kristoffer’s career as a filmmaker and educator shows no signs of slowing down.

“I have other films that I shelved before that I would want to go back to and work on.”

Brugada remains dedicated to his craft and passionate about the stories he tells, grateful for the experiences and support he’s found at Tel Aviv University.

Why Do Employees Keep Their Ideas from Their Bosses?

Written by AUFTAU on 10 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

A new study from the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University sheds light for the first time on an important issue in the business world: employees withholding their inventions from the companies they work for. Although the law and/or employment contracts typically grant organizations the rights to their employees’ inventions, invention withholding is quite common. It carries serious implications for businesses, especially in knowledge-intensive industries. The study reveals alarming data: one out of every four employees in commercial organizations has withheld an invention from their employer at least once. In many cases, this withholding is done deliberately, with the intent to use the invention after leaving the organization. The research was led by Dr. Sarit Erez, in collaboration with Prof. Yaniv Shani and Prof. Abraham Carmeli from the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University. The study was published in the prominent journal Academy of Management Perspectives.

Coller School of Management.

Dr. Erez explains: “Commercial organizations, particularly those in knowledge-intensive industries, encourage innovation among their employees, and their success largely depends on those employees coming up with groundbreaking inventions. To protect companies’ rights to these inventions, legal systems and standard employment contracts typically grant the employer ownership of inventions made by their employees, while requiring employees to disclose any invention they have come up with at work. This allows the employer to obtain patents and protect the invention. To increase employees’ motivation to disclose their inventions, many companies implement incentive systems, offering financial grants and/or recognition, such as badges of honor, to inventors. But at the end of the day, when an employee comes up with a new invention, they are faced with a behavioral dilemma: should they fulfill their legal obligation and disclose the invention to their employer, knowing they will lose ownership, or violate their obligation and hold on to the possibility of capitalizing on their invention outside the company? Indeed, it is a common scenario to see people leave one organization and either join another in the same field or even start their own company — often to develop an invention conceived in their previous workplace”.

Video Credit: Dr. Sarit Erez.

Who Really Owns the Work You Create?

Dr. Erez continues: “These types of cases often end up in court, where an employer sues a former employee — or their new employer — alleging that they are using an invention that the employee conceived while working for them and that the patent rightfully belongs to the original employer. Having practiced law in the private sector for about 20 years, I often represented employees, employers, or employee organizations in disputes of this type. It became evident that the legal tools currently used to address this issue are not the most effective approach. I used to believe that management tools were designed to increase employees’ willingness to disclose their inventions and reduce their tendency to withhold them could be far more effective. But when I looked for academic research on this subject, I found only a handful, and even those focused mainly on the withholding of inventions in academia rather than in commercial organizations. It became clear to me that the issue of withholding inventions, which is so vital to the growth of knowledge-driven companies, had not yet been thoroughly explored in management strategy. With this study, we aimed to shed light on this important phenomenon and begin to address it from a business perspective”.

For the study, the researchers distributed an anonymous online questionnaire, asking inventors to report whether they had ever withheld one or more inventions from their employers. Participants were also requested to describe the event, including its reasons and circumstances. A total of 199 valid responses were collected. Dr. Erez details the findings: “54 participants, or 27 percent of the respondents, reported withholding at least one invention from the organization in which they worked. Of these, 28 percent explicitly stated that they did so to develop the invention themselves after leaving the organization or bringing it as a sort of ‘dowry’ to their next employer. The others cited a variety of reasons, some psychological and some financial. These included an emotional attachment and sense of ownership over the invention as a personal creation; fear that someone else would take credit; conflict with their employer; lack of trust in management; dissatisfaction with pay; and the belief that they would not be adequately compensated for an invention that would profit the organization”.

Changing the Work Culture

In the next phase, the researchers developed a unique and validated measurement scale, the first of its kind, to assess employees’ tendencies to either disclose or withhold inventions from their employers. The findings revealed that withholding or disclosing inventions are not simply opposite sides of the same behavior, but rather two fundamentally different behaviors: an employee might refrain from disclosing a certain invention for a variety of reasons (such as a heavy workload or the belief that the invention still requires development and is not ready to be disclosed). However, a deliberate and active decision to withhold an invention in order to prevent the transfer of ownership to the organization is a distinct behavior that may be influenced by completely different factors (for example, the employee’s feeling that they are poorly treated by the company regardless of the invention itself). Dr. Erez explains: “This distinction is extremely important for organizations seeking to address the problem. Actions taken by companies today, such as offering financial incentives or recognition to inventors, may encourage more disclosures to the organization. However, such measures may be less effective for employees who deliberately withhold a promising invention with the intention of using it further down the road, outside the organization”.

According to the researchers, this newly developed scale can serve as a foundation for further studies on the subject. Additionally, it can help employers build an effective innovation management strategy that minimizes the withholding of inventions within the organization.

Dr. Erez concludes: “In this study, we conducted an in-depth exploration of a widespread phenomenon that has long concerned legal professionals around the world, but so far has hardly been examined from a managerial perspective: employees in the business sector who withhold their inventions from the company that employs them. We urge researchers in academia to continue investigating this important topic, and call on employers to take notice: these behaviors exist, and it is crucial to address them. For our follow-up studies, we are developing management tools to help employers tackle the issue in all its complexity. We believe that with the right management strategies, it is possible to encourage disclosure and significantly reduce the withholding of inventions — preventing the need for legal battles down the line”.

Tel Aviv University Marks One Year Since October 7

Written by AUFTAU on 8 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

On October 7, 2024, Tel Aviv University held a solemn commemoration for the tragic events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched brutal attacks that left around 1,200 civilians dead and many others injured and traumatize, impacting Israel for years to come.

The event began at Smolarz Auditorium with an installation honoring TAU’s fallen members, displaying their names, pictures and affiliation with the university.

Reflecting on the installation honoring the 96 fallen members of the TAU community.

The ceremony commenced with the lowering of the flag and a moment of silence. Wreaths were laid, including one by Professor Meir Ariel from the School of Electrical Engineering at Tel Aviv University, who tragically lost his son, Dan Ariel, during the attacks at the Nova Festival.

Meir Ariel, standing over the wreath he laid for his son, Dan Ariel RIP.

In his speech, TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat reflected on the profound loss experienced by the university community: “Tel Aviv University has lost 19 of its students. Ninety-six families from the TAU community have lost immediate family members. Many more suffer physical or psychological harm. In the coming academic year, we will receive—with great awe—many students who have risked their lives so that we may live… We will do everything we can to help them, so that they can successfully study and complete the academic year. We are forever indebted to them for their courage and sacrifice”.

Daniel Zilber, head of the Tel Aviv University Student Union, spoke about the significance of this day: “Today is not just a day of remembrance; it is a day of outcry. We’re living in an absurd situation of trying to combine our civic lives with the reality of war. For us, today is not about the past; it is still the present. We’re not just remembering those who have fallen—we’re still trying to fulfill their legacy. We will commemorate them later”.

During the ceremony, friends and family members shared their memories of loved ones who were lost. Gal Itzkovitz, a student in the Social Sciences department, spoke about her dear friend Bruna Valeanu, a victim of the Nova Festival tragedy.

“I miss her terribly. She’s greatly missed at the university, in my life, and in the lives of everyone who crossed paths with her” – Gal Itzkovitz.

Gal Itzkovitz speaking about her friend, Bruna Valeanu RIP.

Itai Silber, father of Yuval Zilber, a TAU student who was killed in combat described Yuval as a compassionate leader who dedicated his life to helping others, from establishing a Scouts chapter to empowering local youth through education, all while pursuing his dream of serving as a commander in the IDF before his tragic death.

“Yuval taught me so much. I chose life. I ask everyone to choose life. Choose life with love, and ‘love thy neighbour as yourself,’ because that is the central thing” – Itai Silber.

The ceremony included the reading of the names of 96 fallen members of the Tel Aviv University community, followed by a heartfelt message from Gil Leor, a medical student and PhD candidate. He expressed solidarity with those serving in the field and their families: “I want to send strength and encouragement to our soldiers in the field and on the home front, to all the university’s reservists—students, faculty, and staff—who don’t know when or how they’ll be called back. Let’s continue to support them and their families until this war is behind us. Thank you”.

Students reading the names of the fallen members of TAU.

The event concluded with a moment of silence, counting up to 101 to acknowledge the 101 hostages who remain in Gaza.

Ending the ceremony with Shirat Hatikva.

In addition to the commemoration, the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University hosted the “Testimony 710” project, inviting the community to engage with personal stories from the tragic events of October 7, 2023. Attendees participated in a moving screening of survivor testimonies, gaining insight into the experiences of those affected by the attack.

For full speeches and detailed coverage of the ceremony, click here.

TAU President’s Speech for October 7 Commemoration

Written by AUFTAU on 7 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

A year has gone by since Israel went through the most terrible calamity in its history, the Jewish people’s worst disaster since the Holocaust. A year has passed, and 101 hostages are still held by Hamas in the dreadful tunnels of Gaza, with no rescue in sight. A year has passed, and almost every day we hear of more soldiers killed or wounded. A year has passed, and most evacuees, from the north and south of Israel, are still refugees in their own land. A year has passed since that horrible Saturday, and as time goes by we discover that very few of those accountable for the bloody fiasco are willing to take responsibility.

Tel Aviv University has lost 19 of its students. 96 families from the TAU community have lost immediate family members. Many more suffer physical or psychological harm. In the coming academic year, we will receive—with great awe—many students who have risked their lives so that we may live. Some of them have been deeply scarred in their bodies or souls. We will do everything we can to help them, so that they can successfully study and complete the academic year. We are forever indebted to them for their courage and sacrifice.

In the past year, it seems, we have all swayed constantly between hope and despair. So, I wish to speak to you of some truths that, despite the numerous challenges, arouse real hope in my heart:

The first is the exceptional personal quality of so many Israelis, especially the younger generation. Over the past year we have discovered in our society a strength we never knew we had. Even though we disagree on many issues, at the moment of truth we stand together, and do what must be done so that we can continue to live in our land.

The second truth is our military power, backed by outstanding technological capabilities. To be sure, military power is a means, not an end. And yet, in our part of the world, we probably could not exist without it. Despite their horrendous failure a year ago, Israel’s army and other security forces have been able to recover from the terrible blow and show the world that Israel is not defeated. Military power bolstered by innovative technology is the only way to keep our enemies deterred. And this advantage, we must remind anyone who needs reminding, cannot be attained or preserved without a powerful academia. We can only hope that in the future our country will choose a path in which diplomatic solutions, not only daunting military force, ensure our continued existence.

The third truth is the somewhat surprising resilience of Israeli democracy, with its institutions and civic society organizations. Without going into political controversies, I will just say that I believe that Israeli democracy, despite the cracks it has incurred, is still very strong. Anyone who believes in Israeli democracy should also believe that it will produce upstanding leaders who will lead us on the right path.

I cannot speak of hope without touching on the terrible despair of the families of our hostages in Gaza. We cannot embark upon a new path of recovery, revival and hope without bringing the hostages back to their homes. Many of us are deeply concerned that the state of Israel might not be doing everything in its power to achieve this. Freeing the hostages – who were abandoned to their fates in the dreadful fiasco of Oct. 7 – is not only a moral obligation. It is a strategic goal of the highest importance. Anyone who has served in the Israeli army is familiar with the ethos: you do not leave an injured brother-in-arms behind. Moreover, the Redemption of Captives, “pidyon shvuyim,” is an all-important Jewish commandment. Without this ethos, without solidarity as a paramount value, the state of Israel will never be the same again.

Many of us were born to parents or grandparents who came to this land before the state of Israel was established. They fought to make it a reality. Now our time has come to do whatever we can to protect this land, each in his or her own way, each according to his or her abilities.

“By October, a War Was Happening And I Was Covering a War.”

Written by AUFTAU on 6 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

Dheekshi Arvind, a graduate of Tel Aviv University’s MA in Security and Diplomacy program, began working as an associate producer at i24, an Israeli English-language TV channel, in September 2023, right after completing her degree. She initially took the job “to be politics-adjacent and cover news and politics in Israel and the Middle East,” as she put it, not knowing that just a month later, she would be covering one of the most significant events in recent Israeli history: the outbreak of war in October 2023.

“I was off work that morning, and I clearly remember hearing a loud boom. I thought it was just construction outside my apartment,” she recalls.

“Then my roommate banged on my door, telling me to get out because of the sirens. I couldn’t piece it together—it was so early in the morning.”

Upon realizing that Tel Aviv was under rocket attack, Arvind rushed to work. “We had a group chat at i24 where we got news before it’s broadcast. Suddenly, I was seeing updates about rockets from Gaza hitting Tel Aviv. I got a notification from the group chat: ‘We need you to come in now because we need to cover this.’”

Dheekshi Arvind at the TAU graduation ceremony in 2023

At first, Arvind was hesitant, questioning whether it was safe to go to work. “I remember asking people if they were staying at the job or leaving,” she says. “But my producer told me, ‘We’re journalists. We have to tell people to stay at home, but we come in for work. This is our job—covering the news is what we do.’”

And cover it they did. “That shift was a frenzy. Everyone was doing everything. Social media was blowing up, and we had so much content to post and share with the world.”

Personal and Professional Challenges

Covering the war proved to be not just a professional challenge but also a deeply personal one. Some of the October 7 victims were younger than Arvind and some of her friends were actually at the NOVA festival and had just left that morning to go somewhere else before Hamas came in.

Arvind admits that it was difficult to process the raw footage and the information that came into the newsroom. “Seeing the footage that doesn’t make it to TV and knowing what’s actually happening on the ground—it’s hard to detach and just look at it from a research perspective.”

“There were so many times where I would sit with my producer—I just couldn’t handle or digest what was happening or my reaction to what I was seeing.”

The experience highlighted the complexity of the conflict she had studied during her degree at TAU and the challenge of conveying its nuances to a global audience, much of which viewed the situation through a polarized lens. What frustrated her most was the delayed international response. “People had access to the information, but no one said anything. It wasn’t until Israel retaliated that people started posting on Twitter and social media.”

She also felt disheartened by the oversimplified narratives that dominated discussions. In response, she wrote a blog post challenging the reductionist views she encountered. “People assumed I was taking a political side, but all I was trying to do was present a more nuanced perspective. Hamas is a terrorist organization, and I wanted to make that clear while also urging people to see the broader context.”

A Commitment Through Chaos

Working six to seven days a week, often from early morning until late at night, Arvind found the pace exhausting. But despite the pressure, she remained committed.

Arvind worked at i24 for nearly a year before returning to California, where she had previously completed her BA in political science at UCLA. As Israel’s only English-language news channel, i24 played a crucial role during the conflict. With many producers called up to serve in the Israeli army, the remaining team faced mounting demands.

“I knew I had to stay. We needed all hands on deck,” Arvind recalls. “People who had worked there for years were suddenly gone.”

“I’d made a commitment to myself, to the team and the channel, and I wanted to see it through.”

Her experience working with a diverse team of colleagues, including Palestinians, added another layer of complexity. “I worked with Palestinians when the war broke out, and it was fascinating to see that the common denominator wasn’t ethnicity or religion—it was people’s experiences and perspectives. The narrative isn’t as black and white as people make it out to be.”

“I don’t know how I got through it, but I did. And looking back, I’m glad I did.”

TAU Trains 400 Social Workers in Trauma Relief

Written by AUFTAU on 1 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

The incredibly widespread trauma caused by the October 7th atrocities and the ensuing war hit Israel’s social workers with a wave of responsibilities for which they could never have prepared. Quickly, Tel Aviv University’s Shapell School of Social Work mobilized to help. The School put together an accessible, in-depth online training course focused on trauma care for social workers from throughout Israel.

Now a year later, thanks to generous donations covering tuition fees by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and by Chevron Mediterranean Limited, nearly 400 social workers from 10 cohorts have completed the program. Since every Israeli community has suffered traumatic effects this year, graduates span the spectrum of Israeli society and areas of expertise: Jewish and Arab, from central and peripheral areas, and across welfare, health, education, and military services.

Completely on Zoom and requiring a minimal time commitment, the course was designed for busy social workers in the field. It taught practitioners methods for helping clients deal with acute trauma along with safeguarding their own mental health.

Said course graduate Kelly Ashwal, who worked in a hospital that received victims of the Hamas attack: “Those first visits with the injured were so hard. I received tools for my work as well as for emotionally protecting myself. Though the work still affects me, with the help of the course I feel much more capable of doing my job.”

In addition to addressing an urgent need, the initiative has sparked a professional movement in trauma-informed practice. These trained social workers are now ambassadors in their workplaces, spreading knowledge and enhancing the ability of many to assist the hundreds of thousands in need of support.

To learn more about the program and see testimonies of participants, read the full article here.

Corals on Drugs: A Threat We Can’t Ignore

Written by AUFTAU on 1 October 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

Severe environmental contamination: A new study from Tel Aviv University and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History detected traces of 10 common medications in coral samples collected from both shallow and deep sites in the Gulf of Eilat. Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used for respiratory and urinary tract infections, was found in 93% of the sampled corals.

The alarming study was led by Prof. Noa Shenkar of TAU’s School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, and her PhD student Gal Navon, in collaboration with the Hydrochemistry laboratory led by Prof. Dror Avisar at TAU’s Porter School of Environment and Earth Sciences. The results were published in the prestigious journal Environmental Pollution.

אלמוג אבן מסוג FAVITES

The stony coral species Favites (Photo Credit: Prof. Noa Shenkar).

“In this first-of-its-kind study, we conducted a large-scale investigation for detection of pharmaceuticals in corals”, says Prof. Shenkar. “We sampled 96 reef-building stony corals representing two types, Acropora sp. and Favites sp., in shallow sites (5-12 meters) as well as deeper sites beyond the limits of recreational diving (30-40 meters). We were surprised to find an extensive presence of medications even in the deep-water corals – which usually escape contaminations affecting corals in shallower areas”.

A Cocktail of Drugs Found in Coral Reefs

The researchers obtained a list of the most commonly used pharmaceuticals in Israel from Clalit Health Services. Testing for 18 of these compounds, they detected 10 of them in the coral samples. Not even a single sample, retrieved from either shallow or deep water, was found to be drug-free. The 10 pharmaceuticals found in the corals belonged to different categories: antibiotics, blood pressure medications, antiplatelet agents, calcium channel blockers, laxatives, proton pump inhibitors, statins and antidepressants.

“What does the presence of pharmaceuticals in corals actually mean? Clearly, the corals did not receive a prescription for antibiotics from their doctor”, explains Prof. Shenkar. “These medications are taken by humans to affect a certain receptor or biological pathway, and they can also impact other organisms. Previous studies, conducted by both our lab and others, have revealed many examples of this negative impact: estrogen from birth control contraceptive pills induces female features in male fish, impairing reproduction in certain species; Prozac makes some crabs aggressive and reckless; and antidepressants damage the memory and learning abilities of squids. There is no reason to believe that corals should be immune to such effects. For instance, if our pharmaceuticals should disrupt the spawning synchrony of coral populations, it would take us a long time to notice the problem, and when we do, it might be too late”.

פרופ' נועה שנקר וחברים ימיים

Prof. Noa Shenkar.

“Stony corals build coral reefs, and the types we studied are very common in the Gulf of Eilat”, adds Gal Navon. “Coral reefs are a cornerstone of marine biodiversity. They provide food, shelter, and spawning sites to numerous species, and support the human fishing and tourism industries. Today this delicate ecosystem is under pressure as a result of climate change, pollution, and overfishing. The presence of pharmaceuticals in coral tissues adds another layer of concern, indicating that human activities even contaminate faraway marine environments”.

“Clearly these medications save lives, and we have no intention of requesting people to reduce their use”, says Prof. Shenkar. “However, we must develop new sewage treatment methods that can effectively handle pharmaceutical compounds. Also, each of us must dispose of old medications in ways that do not harm the environment. Ultimately these drugs come back to us. I know people who avoid medications, but when they eat a fish, they might unknowingly consume a ‘cocktail’ of drug residues absorbed by the fish from the marine environment”.

TAU Scientist Featured on Nobel Prize Prediction List

Written by AUFTAU on 29 September 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

TAU Students Once Again Lead in Bar Exam Success with 95% Pass Rate

Written by AUFTAU on 23 September 2024. Posted in Newsroom.

Author: AUFTAU

Did Child Labor Fuel the Ancient Pottery Industry?