Here’s a question that has puzzled scientists for decades: Why is Crohn’s disease — an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with the highest incidence among Caucasians — about two to four times more prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews than among non-Jewish whites? As some researchers continue to look for the answer in our genes, others are proposing…
You thought “goy” is a derogatory word for a non-Jew? Incorrect. It actually means “genetically modified goat” — at least in New Zealand, where scientists are using the term to refer to a new breed of the animal. The goats, presumably gentiles, are described as “transgender,” and are part of an experiment to see whether…
Ten years ago, the first-ever bone-marrow transplant was performed using the umbilical cord blood of a baby deliberately selected and implanted through a combination of in-vitro fertilization and genetic testing to save the life of his older sibling. The embryo-screening procedure known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, had previously been used to enable parents…
In 1995 Laurie Strongin’s son Henry was born with Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disease most common in Ashkenazi Jews. The disease, as Strongin and her husband quickly learned, is almost always fatal. But scientific advancements gave them the hope that they might be able to save their newborn son. Pioneering the use of an…
What is the essence of Jewish identity? Is it revealed in the choices we make, like giving tzedakah or observing the Sabbath, or is it in our genetic code? Is it a matter of faith, or a matter of heritability? Is it something we can choose, or is it a biological imperative embedded in nearly…
One day, about four years ago, a young couple came to Dr. Alan Shanske’s office looking for help. They had already been to numerous doctors, but none of them was able to diagnose their 4-year-old son. The boy, Shanske recalled, was developmentally delayed, uncoordinated with poor muscle tone, had experienced breathing problems as an infant…
Fred and Joan Horak have been ranchers since 1985, so 11 years ago, when Joan noticed that two lambs from her flock had tilted heads and wobbly legs, she knew something was amiss. Little did the Horaks know that their discovery of these two sick lambs would end up providing new hope in the search…
Citing rising Jewish intermarriage rates, the leading organization devoted to combating Tay-Sachs is urging doctors to encourage the use of more comprehensive testing methodology to identify carriers of the deadly genetic disease. The National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association issued its position statement on Tay-Sachs carrier screening in September 2009. The statement stressed the importance…
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