166 - ketab farsi

166
22
utilize clean energy sources.
Let’s look at a few sectors,
and consider the power grid. To
replace and upgrade an aging 50
year-old electric transmission
system is estimated to cost nearly
$25 billion per year for the next 20
years; that’s half a trillion dollars!
For anyone in the Northeast who
remembers the blackout from 2003,
this is no laughing matter. But, soon
enough, there will be wind turbines
offshore Cape Cod producing clean
power.
The same holds true
for water. The management
consulting firm, McKinsey and
Co., recently estimated that, “By
2030, under an average economic
growth scenario…global water
requirements would grow…a full
40% above current accessible.”
Much of the new technology can
be described as “low tech” and has
been developed by necessity. Israel
developed the modern efficient
technology of drip irrigation on
a Kibbutz in 1959, and exported
the process to other parts of the
world. U.S. farmers are migrating
to new methods to achieve water
conversation.
Scientists, historians, and
economists share one commonality:
they are all great at interpreting past
history. But as history has taught us,
it’s important to maintain focus on
the future by looking at today. Two
facts are clear: natural resources
are being depleted and have been
seriously damaged in the Gulf.
Companies that have solutions
are likely to be at the center of the
change. It’s time to move to the next
step.
*Richard Bookbinder, is a Managing
Member and Bobby Shamsian the
Vice President of TerraVerde Capital
Management LLC.
(www.terraverdecap.com)
Study Finds Genetic Links
Among Jewish People
Thanks in large part to a
generous gift from the Iranian
American Jewish Federation of
NY to the Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, geneticists at Einstein
and NYU School of Medicine have
created the first comprehensive
genetic map of major Jewish
populations. This historic finding
indicates that Jews from different
regions of the world share genetic
traits that date back over 2,500
years. The Jewish HapMap Project
published in the American Journal of
Human Genetics and subsequently
covered in major media outlets
worldwide, demonstrated that Jews
are genetically linked to a common
Middle Eastern ancestry dating
back approximately 2,500 years.
This discovery opens a new door
for medical research.
“By providing a
comprehensive genetic fingerprint
of various Jewish subpopulations, it
can help us understand genetic links
to heart disease, cancer, diabetes
and other common diseases,” said
co-author Edward Burns, M.D.,
Executive Dean and Professor
of Pathology and Medicine at
Einstein.
“The study supports the
idea of a Jewish people linked by
a shared genetic history,” said Dr.
Harry Ostrer of NYU. “Yet the
admixture with European people
explains why so many European
and Syrian Jews have blue eyes and
blond hair.”
“The goal of the study was
to determine a genomic baseline,”
said lead author Gil Atzmon, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Medicine
and Genetics at Einstein. “With this
established, we’ll be able to more
easily identify genes associated with
complex disorders like diabetes that
are determined by multiple variants
across the genome. Armed with
this information, we will be better
positioned to treat patients.”
Published as “Abraham’s
Children in the Genome Era:
Major Jewish Diaspora Populations
Comprise Distinct Genetic Clusters
with Shared Middle Eastern
Ancestry,” the study has generated
a great deal of excitement in the
major media and Jewish press.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.einstein.yu.edu/home/
addCoverage.asp?id=205.
Funding for the Jewish
HapMap was made possible by the
IAJF and other concerned members
of the Jewish community. Your
continued support is vital to helping
Einstein and NYU continue this
research. For more information,
please contact Janet Heit at 718-
430-2790 or Janet.Heit@einstein.
yu.edu.
The IAJF’s partnership in
this pioneering genetic research
project studying Iranian Jews for
the first time ever, and other Jewish
populations, demonstrates IAJF’s
visionary leadership and care for
the community.