PULLMAN WSU scientist Diter Von Wettstein’s work on developing gluten-free wheat for people who suffer from celiac disease has received another major infusion of financial support.
Washington’s Life Science Discovery Fund Wednesday announced that Von Wettstein was one of six researchers in the state to win a project grant. He will receive nearly $1.1 million to continue his work. The award comes on the heels of a four-year, $837,000 award from the National Institutes of Health earlier this year.
“This award from the Life Science Discovery Fund, as well as the NIH grant, speak to the very high quality of Dr. Von Wettstein’s science and to the urgency for a solution to the problem facing people with celiac disease,” said Dan Bernardo, dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences.
Celiac disease is a genetic digestive disease and autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Symptoms range from cramps and diarrhea to malnutrition. The disease is triggered by eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.
The only treatment for people with celiac disease is adoption of a gluten-free diet. That’s easier said than done; gluten is used as filler in many other foods, such as deli meats, vitamins and even the glue on stamps and envelopes.
Von Wettstein, who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is focusing his research on addressing two major limitations with existing wheat varieties their impact on celiac patients and their deficiency in the amino acid lysine, an amino acid essential to a healthy diet.
Specifically, his team is identifying gene mutations that affect the gliadin-type prolamins in gluten protein. Gliadins are the substances in wheat that cannot be digested, eventually cross the intestinal wall and damage the intestinal lining. Fortunately, it has been shown that eliminating gliadins does not compromise wheat’s baking qualities.
Von Wettstein is the R.A. Nilan Distinguished Professor in WSU’s Department of Crop and Soil Science and a faculty member in the College of Science.
WSU scientists also are involved in another LSDF project grant involving development of artemisinin compounds for cancer treatment.
Professor Bill Pan and Assistant Professor Ian Burke, both in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, are sub-contractors for the $1.44 million project grant awarded to University of Washington Professor Tomikazu Sasaki. Pan and Burke will be cultivating artemesia with the concentrations of artemisinin required for the research.
Artemesia, also known as sweet wormwood in the western word, is an annual herb indigenous to the Asian steppe of northern China. However, it also has been found to grow throughout North and South America, Europe and northern Africa.
The Life Sciences Discovery Fund, a Washington State agency established in May 2005, makes grant investments in innovative life sciences research to benefit Washington and its citizens. Funding for the program comes from Washington’s share of bonus payments under the Master Tobacco Settlement, with revenues derived from multi-state litigation with tobacco product manufacturers. For more about the Life Sciences Discovery Fund, go to http://www.lsdfa.org/home.html.
