For years, Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists in an effort to hinder Iran's nuclear program.

Now, with tensions between the two countries escalating, scientists in Israel have become targets themselves.

On Sunday, an Iranian missile struck the Weizmann Institute of Science, a premier Israeli research institute known for its work in life sciences and physics.

While no one was killed in the strike, it caused significant damage to multiple labs on campus, setting back years of scientific research and sending a chilling message to Israeli scientists.

The Weizmann Institute has been in Iran's sights for some time.

Last year, Israeli authorities said they busted an Iranian spy ring that planned to assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist who worked at the institute.

While such plots have not been seen through in the past, this week's strike on Weizmann is particularly jarring.

The institute, founded in 1934 and ranked among the world's top research institutes, has ties to Israel's defense establishment.

Its scientists and researchers publish hundreds of studies each year, and one Nobel laureate in chemistry and three Turing Award laureates have been associated with the institute.

Two buildings were hit in the strike, including one housing life sciences labs and a second that was empty and under construction but meant for chemistry study.

The damage to the institute and its labs is extensive.

Many of those labs focus on the life sciences, whose projects are especially sensitive to physical damage.

The labs were studying areas like tissue generation, developmental biology or cancer, with much of their work now halted or severely set back by the damage.

For some researchers, years' or even decades' worth of research was destroyed.

The strike on Weizmann sends a clear message: Israeli scientists and their expertise are now targets in the escalating conflict with Iran.

The impact on scientific progress is significant, as rebuilding and getting the science work back on track will take years.