Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People By Harry Ostrer Oxford University Press, 288 Pages, $24.95 In his new book, “Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People,” Harry Ostrer, a medical geneticist and professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, claims that Jews are different, and the differences are not…
Elisabeth Tinkham, 41, was raised as a Protestant by her adoptive parents, but always felt a connection to Judaism. Her most vivid childhood memory of the United Church of Christ involves a Passover Seder, which a rabbi demonstrated for the congregation. “I really liked the symbolism of the foods,” she said. “And when the rabbi…
The Wandering Gene and the Indian Princess: Race, Religion, and DNA By Jeff Wheelwright W.W. Norton and Company, 260 pages, $26.95 A diagnosis of breast cancer presents a lot of questions. Should you start with chemotherapy, or opt for surgery right away? Do you remove the tumor alone, or the entire breast? What about prophylactic…
This will be news to residents of southern Florida, but it turns out that Ashkenazi Jews, as a group, don’t actually live longer than the rest of the population. Nevertheless, shared genetic traits have made Ashkenazim a compelling subject for scientific study, including in a fascinating project outlined in the newest edition of New York…
Most people take nearsightedness, or myopia, for what it is — and deal with it by donning a pair of fashionable glasses, getting fitted for contact lenses or getting Lasik surgery. Dr. Ohad Birk and his team of genetics researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, on the other hand, have wanted to know exactly…
When Haley Well was born in 2006, doctors were initially afraid that the baby wouldn’t survive. “She was so blue that they thought she wasn’t getting any oxygen,” recalled her mother, Jordana Well. Early blood work revealed that the newborn had a dangerously low platelet count and her blood wasn’t clotting properly. Genetic tests then…
On a rainy day in May, 46 people had their blood drawn in the basement of the Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan as part of a community screening for Jewish genetic diseases. Blood samples from the young married couples and individuals in committed relationships were then shipped off to diagnostic…
In Petri dishes inside Dr. Lorenz Studer’s lab, translucent clumps of human cells multiply in nutrient baths the color of red Kool-Aid. Under a microscope, the cells look round and gelatinous, like mounds of miniature eyeballs. “You can’t tell by looking at them, but there’s something wrong in the genetic code,” said Studer, a professor…
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