JTA — A growing number of Americans are injecting themselves with peptides they ordered online, often with no idea what’s in the vial, hoping to cure ailments and reverse aging. And for reasons that will soon be made clear, some of the peptides that make their way into the faddish and often gray market concoctions have what appear to be Yiddish names.

But first, Pinchas Cohen, the pioneering scientist responsible for the naming quirk, wanted to say a few words about the real potential for mitochondrial-derived peptides.

Peptides represent a revolution in medicine, with potential for major new drug discoveries, the University of Southern California professor said. And the gray market fad worries him.

“These are potent biological molecules,” Cohen said. “They should be used under the supervision of a physician, and when they’re being produced in reliable manufacturing facilities — most of which is not happening right now.”

That said: about those names.

Cohen’s lab at USC has given the world SHLP (pronounced “schlep”), SHMOOSE, MENTSH, and a few others not yet published — including one called NOSH and another PUTZ. Each is a legitimate scientific acronym, carefully reverse-engineered to land on a Yiddish word.

SHLP stands for Small Humanin-Like Peptide. SHMOOSE expands to Small Human Mitochondrial ORF Over SErine tRNA. The names are light-hearted, but the science is serious. Naturally occurring SHMOOSE has been linked to a 30% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. MENTSH, after Cohen also named a company he founded, shows promise for treating diabetes.

Cohen has a rule that he doesn’t name things himself. That’s the students’ job. “I always give the students and postdocs the chance to name the project they’re working on,” he said. “But I get veto power. They’ve already learned that the best way to get me to say yes is to come up with something really cute.”

Not every Yiddish name comes from a Jewish lab........

© The Times of Israel