ntspring18

NORTHERN TODAY 12 SPRING 2018 “It’s very cool,” said Venegas, an Aberdeen native pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology and an associate in biotechnology. “It’s amazing to be able to do research as a sophomore in college.” “That’s an opportunity unique to NSU,” said Dr. Jon Mitchell, associate professor of biology, who works with Venegas. “That’s the Northern advantage.” Mitchell and Venegas, along with NSU senior Zach Fleming, have been working for the past year to purify the sheep ganglioside GM1, which has been found to impact the effects of Huntington’s disease and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases. It’s advanced research, Mitchell said, and it’s funded thanks to a South Dakota EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) grant that pays for wages, some research equipment and consumable materials. “It doesn’t happen very often that students get the opportunity to get a little bit of a wage and do some hard science,” Mitchell said. “This is not easy stuff and no one’s doing it.” Collaborative Effort The work is a collaborative effort with GlycoScience Research Inc. (GRI), located near Brookings. GRI founders, Dr. Larry Holler, DVM, Ph.D., in the Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department at South Dakota State University, and Sue Holler, diagnostic specialist at SDSU, have been working on these sheep since 1998. They have identified a new sheep source for production of GM1 gangliosides that will exceed normal levels 30 to 40 fold, providing needed raw materials for downstream pharmaceutical applications against Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia. Patients with Huntington’s disease are deficient in GM1 ganglioside, but the Hollers and GRI have discovered that treating Huntington’s patients with this GM1 ganglioside has shown to drastically reduce its symptoms to the point of cure. “These guys are trying to cure Huntington’s,” Dr. Mitchell explained, adding, “They want to convince the FDA that GM1 could be the answer.” Additionally, this NSU students, professor part of research that could lead to cure for Huntington’s IMPACTING HEALTH While her friends are working typical summer jobs, Northern State University student Cindy Venegas is spending her summer conducting research for a project that could lead to a cure for Huntington’s disease.