2001-2007

Did Bulgarians discover the elixir of life, or did the elixir find them?

In the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Nobel Prizewinner Elie Metchniko observed unusually high numbers of centenarians among Bulgarian people. In his book The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies (1907), he discusses the potential life-lengthening properties of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which is one of the strains of lacto-bacteria that transform fresh milk into yogurt). Metchniko attributed the longevity of Bulgarian peasants to their yogurt consumption. He proceeded to follow their example himself and encouraged others to eat yogurt daily - for which he was much ridiculed.

Fermented milk products still constitute a large part of the traditional Bulgarian diet. It is possible that the longevity of yogurt-eating Bulgarians is due to unique properties of Lactobacillus bulgaricus. But could those properties have beneficially affected a population’s genes, and made longevity inheritable? Now that genes can be modified, couldn’t yogurt made by bacteria reinforced with Bulgarian human DNA be used to prolong life? To look for such an elixir soon after sequencing the Human Genome seems not only timely, but possibly within reach.

I am Bulgarian and come from a family with recorded longevity. The most recent example is my grandfather Dimcho Manev who died at the age of 97, and yogurt was his staple food.

This genetic-transfer project involves observing methods of genetic manipulation in the lab and then making yogurt with Lactobacillus bulgaricus into which the artist’s DNA has been introduced. The theoretical possibility of a convergent evolution between Bulgarians and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, protecting people from disease, is not totally far-fetched. In parts of the world where malaria is prevalent, for example, people carrying the genetic sickle cell trait are partially protected from the malarial parasite. A small genetic change in hemoglobin both causes sickle cell anemia and protects against malaria.

Materials & Actions: Lactobacillus bulgaricus, DNA of the artist, yogurt in plastic containers. A genetic transfer project in collaboration with Dr Isabelle Riviere, PhD, and Dr Michel Sadelain MD, PhD.

Location: Department of Human Genetics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.