68 August 29 • 2019
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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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