Ron Milo (Hebrew: רון מילוא; born February 11, 1975) is a Professor of Systems Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He is Weizmann Dean of Education,[1] the chairperson of the Israel society of ecology and environmental sciences[2] and the director of the Institute for environmental sustainability [3] at Weizmann. Formerly he was the chairperson of the Israel young academy.[4]

Ron Milo
BornFebruary 1975 (age 49)
Alma materHebrew University of Jerusalem
Weizmann Institute of Science
Scientific career
InstitutionsWeizmann Institute of Science
Doctoral advisorUri Alon
Websitewww.weizmann.ac.il/plants/Milo

Education

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Ron Milo was born in Haifa and educated in Kfar-Saba. At the age of 15 he won the National Physics Olympiad.[5] He holds a bachelor's degree with honors in physics and mathematics[6] from the Hebrew University as part of the Talpiot program, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University[7] and a PhD in the laboratory of Professor Uri Alon at the Weizmann Institute of Science.[8] In 2006–2008, Milo was the first Harvard Systems Biology Fellow.[9] at Harvard Medical School.

Research

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Milo harnesses the tools of quantitative thinking and systems biology to find solutions to the challenges of sustainability.[10] Milo’s goal is improving the ability of humanity to produce food more efficiently by creating new ways to fixate carbon dioxide from the air. His group demonstrated for the first time an ability to convert carbon dioxide into sugar in a synthetically engineered E. coli.[11][12]

Milo also leads a global accounting of biomass on earth giving a fresh perspective on the impact of humanity and the future of biodiversity.[13][14] His work on the biomass distribution on Earth[15][16] is widely cited for example in BBC documentaries and served for an exhibition in the museum of Natural history in London. He also quantified the land, irrigation water use, and greenhouse gas emissions of dietary choices, and the needed changes required to minimize our impact on the planet.[17]

His book “Cell Biology by the Numbers”,[18] is freely available online and was translated to multiple languages. He is the founder of BioNumbers,[19] the database of useful biological numbers. His papers were cited over 50,000 times.[20]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Weizmann website
  2. ^ The Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences
  3. ^ Institute for environmental sustainability
  4. ^ Israel Young Academy website
  5. ^ "CURRICULUM VITAE – RON MILO" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  6. ^ "Ron Milo". Department of Molecular Biology. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  7. ^ "CURRICULUM VITAE – RON MILO" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  8. ^ "People". Uri Alon. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  9. ^ "Community (2/9/07) | Harvard Medical School". hms.harvard.edu. 2007-02-09. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  10. ^ Milo lab
  11. ^ Gleizer, S., Ben-Nissan, R., Bar-On, Y. M., Antonovsky, N., Noor, E., Zohar, Y., ... & Milo, R. (2019).Conversion of Escherichia coli to generate all biomass carbon from CO2. Cell, 179(6), 1255-1263
  12. ^ Antonovsky, N., Gleizer, S., Noor, E., Zohar, Y., Herz, E., Barenholz, U., ... & Milo, R. (2016). Sugar synthesis from CO2 in Escherichia coli. Cell, 166(1), 115-125.
  13. ^ Elhacham, E., Ben-Uri, L., Grozovski, J., Bar-On, Y. M., & Milo, R. (2020). Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass. Nature, 588(7838), 442-444.
  14. ^ Laville, Sandra (2020-12-09). "Human-made materials now outweigh Earth's entire biomass – study". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  15. ^ Bar-On, Y. M., Phillips, R., & Milo, R. (2018). The biomass distribution on Earth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(25), 6506-6511.
  16. ^ Carrington, Damian (2018-05-21). "Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  17. ^ Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, T., & Milo, R. (2014). Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(33), 11996-12001.
  18. ^ Cell Biology by the Numbers
  19. ^ BioNumbers
  20. ^ Google Scholar
  21. ^ "The Rothschild Prize". Yad Hanadiv. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  22. ^ EMBO website
  23. ^ Weizmann website
  24. ^ Science website, Grand prize winners, 2006
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