New York, NY – A close-knit group of New York Jews with Eastern European roots may hold the secret to a long and healthy life — many live to 100 without disease despite smoking, drinking and eating fatty foods.
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And researchers in the city are hoping to unlock the code of their genetic jackpot.
Starting in the next few weeks, a team at Cornell Medical College will begin a study of the stem cells of about a dozen Ashkenazi Jews, a heavily persecuted population that descends from Imperial Russia and, through years of intermarriage, shares distinctive genetic traits.
One is a “longevity gene,” which appears to protect them from heart attacks, cancer and other life-threatening maladies.
“The reason they live so long is not because they live healthy lives,” said Dr. Todd Evans, who will lead the study of heart, lung, liver and other cells made from the group’s stem cells at labs on York Avenue.
“Interbreeding can have a negative impact, but, in this case, some families had the opposite effect. They don’t get cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegeneration or diabetes or very low rates. And we believe that one aspect to their resistance to disease has a stem-cell base.”
Evans’ team extracts stem cells from the senior citizens’ blood, then transforms them into cells of vital organs that incorporate the healthy gene signatures.
The engineered cells will undergo harsh stress tests, then be examined to see how they fared.
“He’s using the stem cells of centenarians and their children and comparing them with people who are unlikely to get to the age of 100,” said Dr. Nir Barzilai, an aging expert at Albert Einstein Medical School in The Bronx.
More at NY Post
These people must be dreaming. I see nebach so many young people dying, from the group described in your study.
They shouldn’t waste their time with this study. Every Jew knows the secret to a good life. The Torah promises a good life to those who follow the Torah.
The Rabbi in the picture is actually sefardic. He’s always hanging out
the kotel.
how long will it take them to realize that it works along with the “pintele yid”??!! research aher, research ahin, they woun’t change creation of man!!
Kibud Av V’eim and shiluach hakan
And I eat a piece of cake and right away my sugar goes up.
They do not seem to realize that the Jewish man is kept busy . I remember my late father was kept busy all day from early morning 4:30 am getting ready to go to learn , daven, and come home etc and later learn some more. His mind was kept busy!! All day!! Every day!! This you cannot put in a book!! Try to explain this to a dr.!!
כי היא חייך ואורך ימיך – so says the creator and grantor of life himself. Chaza”l in pirkei Uvos say מרבה תורה מרבה חיים. Since the world operates through nature, it is quite possible that once someone merits a long life, it will be reflected in his cells, and it might even be passed on to future generations, as it is written לאוהבי ולשומרי מצותי the reward never expires.
The individual in the picture illustrating this article is Sefardi – you can tell from the way the Retzuos on his hand are wrapped.
An Israeli Yid
The promise for life is SPIRITUAL life re. the gemara of the son who fell off the ladder while listening to his father to send away the mother bird.
Regarding all the posts that keeping the Torah will give someone long physical life we see many of the gedolei olam who lived very short lives, e.g. Ari hakadosh, Ramchal, who lived less than forty and who absolutely kept the entire Torah.
And while מרבה תורה מרבה חיים can apply to tzaddikim, if scientists can discover this, it will apply to everyone. To deny this is like saying health is from God so don’t bother with doctors. To clarify, Healing is absolutely from God but we have an obligation to help ourselves and researching this technology is the next step. Prevention is better than cure.