Dor Yeshorim (Hebrew: "generation [that is] straight/reliable") is an organization that offers genetic screening to members of Orthodox Jewish communities. Its objective is to minimize the occurrence of genetic disorders common to Jewish people. Dor Yeshorim logo This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel, the West Bank, the United States, and by Jewish communities around the world. ... A genetic screen (or simply screen) is a procedure or test to identify and select individuals which possess a phenotype of interest. ... Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary... A genetic disorder, or genetic disease is a disease caused by abnormal expression of one or more genes in a person causing a clinical phenotype. ... Jews (Hebrew: יהודים, Yehudim) are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and converts who joined their religion. ...

The organization

Dor Yeshorim is based in Brooklyn, New York, but has offices in Israel and various other countries. It has no web presence but announces testing sessions in community newspapers and Orthodox highschools. For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ...

Background

In both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish communities there is an increased rate of a number of genetic disorders such as Tay-Sachs disease, an autosomal recessive disorder that goes unnoticed in carriers but is fatal within the first few years of life in homozygotes. Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, Aškanazi,Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAškănāzî, ʾAškănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... Sephardim (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ... Judaism. ... A genetic disorder, or genetic disease is a disease caused by abnormal expression of one or more genes in a person causing a clinical phenotype. ... Tay-Sachs disease (abbreviated TSD, also known as GM2 gangliosidosis) is a fatal genetic disorder, inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance called ganglioside GM2 accumulate in the nerve cells in the brain. ... In genetics, the term recessive gene refers to an allele that causes a phenotype (visible or detectable characteristic) that is only seen in a homozygous genotype (an organism that has two copies of the same allele). ... A homozygotes cells are diploid or polyploid and have the same alleles at a locus (position) on homologous chromosomes. ...

Orthodox Judaism generally frowns on selective abortion. Although preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is often approved by Halakha, it is a difficult and costly process. By avoiding the marriage between "carriers", the incidence of the disease decreases without having to resort to such methods. Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary... In medicine and (clinical) genetics preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a method to test oocytes prior to fertilization or embryos before they are implanted in the uterus. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ...

Policy

Dor Yeshorim screens only for recessive traits that give rise to lethal or severely debilitating diseases, providing prophylactic, rather than diagnostic services. They do not screen for diseases arising from dominant gene mutations, as these cannot be prevented by informed mate selection. In genetics, the term recessive gene refers to an allele that causes a phenotype (visible or detectable characteristic) that is only seen in a homozygous genotype (an organism that has two copies of the same allele). ... In genetics, the term dominant gene refers to the allele that causes a phenotype that is seen in a heterozygous genotype. ...

See also: Dominant gene, Codominance, Recessive gene. In genetics, the term dominant gene refers to the allele that causes a phenotype that is seen in a heterozygous genotype. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with incomplete dominance. ... In genetics, the term recessive gene refers to an allele that causes a phenotype (visible or detectable characteristic) that is only seen in a homozygous genotype (an organism that has two copies of the same allele). ...

Methods

Dor Yeshorim advocates anonymous testing. Teenagers are tested during large sessions in Jewish schools and processed anonymously with only a PIN linking the sample with the candidate. A personal identification number (PIN) is a numeric value (sometimes expressed as text using the standard telephone dial mapping) that is used in certain systems to gain access, and authenticate. ...

At present, testing is offered for:

• Tay-Sachs disease
• Familial dysautonomia
• Cystic fibrosis
• Canavan disease
• Glycogen storage disease (type 1)
• Fanconi anemia (type C)
• Bloom syndrome
• Niemann-Pick disease
• Mucolipidosis (type IV)
• Gaucher's disease (only by request)

When two members of the system contemplate marriage, they contact the organisation and enter both their PINs. When carriership of the same disease is present in both, the risk of affected offspring is 25%, and it is considered advisable to discontinue the plans. In the context of shidduchim, the "carriership check" is often run within the first three "dates", to avoid disappointments and heartbreak. Tay-Sachs disease (abbreviated TSD, also known as GM2 gangliosidosis) is a fatal genetic disorder, inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance called ganglioside GM2 accumulate in the nerve cells in the brain. ... Familial dysautonomia, or FD, is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system resulting in variable syptoms including insensivity to pain, inability to produce tears, poor growth, and labile blood pressure. ... Although Canavan disease may occur in any ethnic group, it affects persons of Eastern European Jewish ancestry more frequently. ... Glycogen storage disease is any one of several inborn errors of metabolism that result from enzyme defects that affect the processing of glycogen synthesis or breakdown within muscles, liver, and other cell types. ... Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disease that affects children and adults from all ethnic backgrounds. ... Bloom syndrome is a genetic condition characterized by prenatal growth delay and a butterfly rash in the mid-face region. ... Niemann-Pick disease is an inherited condition involving lipid metabolism (the breakdown and use of fats and cholesterol in the body) in which harmful amounts of lipids accumulate in the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow, and brain. ... Mucolipidoses (ML) are a group of inherited metabolic diseases that affect the body’s ability to carry out the normal turnover of various materials within cells. ... Gauchers disease (pronounced ) is the most common of the lipid storage diseases. ... In Hebrew a shidduch or shiduch (שידוך, pl. ...

History

Dor Yeshorim was started in the 1980s by Rabbi Joseph Ekstein, who lost four children to Tay-Sachs disease between 1965 and 1983. The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi... Tay-Sachs disease (abbreviated TSD, also known as GM2 gangliosidosis) is a fatal genetic disorder, inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance called ganglioside GM2 accumulate in the nerve cells in the brain. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Criticism

The system has received criticism from within and outside the community. The largely Eastern-European Orthodox congregation of Antwerp, for example, uses alternative methods of testing because of misgivings about the procedure. For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ...

Another criticism that is being leveled against the method used by DY is the resemblance of eugenics. One has to bear in mind that the methodology of DY bears down to "phenotypical eugenics", as the carriership is not decreased at all. The effort is certainly not aimed at eradicating the hereditary traits, but rather at the occurrence of homozygosity. Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution: Logo from the Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921, depicting it as a tree which unites a variety of different fields. ... Homozygote cells are diploid or polyploid and have the same alleles at a locus (position) on homologous chromosomes. ...

Additionally they only test for resessive disorders that require two carriers, and thus are only concerned with eliminating |active cases of the disease. But the testing has no impact on the rates of carriers, and they will not test for diseases that manifest even with one carrier. (See Policy section above.) Homozygote cells are diploid or polyploid and have the same alleles at a locus (position) on homologous chromosomes. ...

External links

• New Scientist interview with Rabbi Ekstein.
• Article in The New Atlantis on the ethics anonymous testing and defacto phenotypical eugenics.
• Article on the methods of DY.