Posted 1:39 p.m. Thursday, March 15, 2012
UW-L research could lead to answers about human heart conditions and bleeding disorders
Ground squirrels can do something really cool that humans can’t. They can burrow into the ground and hibernate, slowing their heart rate to four beats per minute. If a human’s heart slowed down that much, blood in the body would clot. The big question is, ‘How does a squirrel do that?’ It’s a question UW-L Biology Professor Scott Cooper and his student researchers are trying to figure out.
Their research project recently received a $303,700 grant from the National Institutes of Health. “If we can figure out how squirrels prevent their blood from clotting, we can possibly figure out how to do it in humans,” says Cooper as he looks at pictures of a squirrel heart in his lab. “It’s a puzzle. As a scientist, that’s what keeps you going.”
Solving this puzzle isn’t just for fun. It could contribute to saving lives. About 40 percent of all deaths in America are due to a blood clot in the heart, notes Cooper. Preventing clotting could also lead to treating bleeding disorders and heart disease. Cooper started the research about five years ago by studying the extensive and complex process of how squirrel blood forms a clot.
“Science can be described as putting a puzzle together,” explains Cooper. “But sometimes, even before you can do that, you have to find the pieces.”
Cooper says he couldn’t have gotten this far without the help of students. Nnia Emeka-Aneke, a undergraduate student from Nigeria, Africa, calls the research fascinating. “The fact that they (squirrels) can do this biologically on their own and get their blood running again without it clotting again — it’s crazy,” he says.
Leah Morgan, UW-L graduate student in cell and molecular biology, feels a personal connection to the subject area since her father recently had a heart attack.
From left, Leah Morgan, graduate student of cell and molecular biology, of Farmington, Minn., with Jenna Kerr, a biology major, from Coleman, Wis.
“It’s good to know you’re doing research on a project that has a purpose and direction,” she says. Yet she knows even if they find the mechanism for stopping the clotting, there’s a long road to preventing conditions like her fathers. “It’s not as easy as it sounds. One of my professors said if research was easy it would just be called search,” she says. “But it’s still a great thing we are doing. It’s creating a foundation for better projects to be done and for people to think in new ways.”