68 August 29 • 2019
jn

Modifying Genes

Technion/Rambam doctor works
to reduce cardiovascular disease.

At a time when cardiovascular 
disease remains the leading cause 
of death worldwide, a professor 
at the Technion-Israel Institute of 
Technology and senior cardiologist 
at the Rambam Medical Center, both 
in Haifa, is tackling the idea of modi-
fying genes to fix failing hearts. 
Speaking to American Technion 
Society supporters and community 
members this summer at the Max 
M. Fisher Federation Building in 
Bloomfield Hills, Kehat explained 
that cardiovascular disease is rising 
because treatments addressing heart 
disease’
s common causes — hyper-
tension, high blood pressure, leaky 
valves and more — extend life for 
a time but do not address the root 
cause of the disease.
Kehat’
s lab — Technion’
s Molecular 
Cardiovascular System Research Lab 
— focuses on the molecular mecha-
nisms responsible for the abnormal 
enlargement of the heart during 
cardiac failure, with the aim of trans-
lating findings into state-of-the-art 
therapies that could reduce heart dis-
ease-related deaths. 
Taking attendees behind the 
scenes, Kehat explained that each 
of our billions of heart cells is com-
prised of 600 motors that expand 
and contract to help pump blood 
— yet those motors have a lifespan 
of roughly just one week. Kehat’
s 
research examines how cells con-
tinuously rebuild those motors, and 

how the body generates replacement 
parts at precisely the right time and 
in accordance with the right amount 
each cell needs.
The process resembles a fast food 
chain, according to Kehat. It does not 
make logistical sense for restaurants 
to produce and distribute burgers 
and fries on demand across hun-
dreds or thousands of miles; rather, 
it is more efficient to provide each of 
a chain’
s locations with the necessary 
ingredients to serve customers in 
local markets. Whatever is not sold is 
discarded because fresh produce will 
arrive for the next day.
These cells function the same way, 
Kehat explained. Cells produce vast 
quantities of parts that enable their 
motors to run and whatever is not 
used gets consumed by the system, 
after which point the body begins 
that process anew.
But when the heart cells have to 
work harder and need to produce 
new motors, the supply does not 
match the demand and malfunction 
of the motors occur, leading to heart 
failure.
Why this occurs, at the genet-
ic level, is the subject of Kehat’
s 
research.
With the annual global total of 
17.3 million cardiovascular dis-
ease-related deaths expected to grow 
to more than 23.6 million by 2030, 
according to the American Heart 
Association, the work Kehat is doing 
at Technion is vital. 

health | Israel’
s role

Cathy and Jim Deutchman of Franklin flank Technion Professor Izhak Kehat.

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