The NECPS was approached by laboratory from Northeastern
University in 2008 to help cultivate nepenthesin from Nepenthes distillatoria
plants.
Nepenthesin helps a tropical pitcher plant digest prey
similar to how pepsin helps humans digest protein.
The long term goal of this research is to use nepenthesin,
instead of pepsin, to help analyze HIV proteins in order to gain additional
information about their folding dynamics. This information has the potential
to be used in drug development.
The goal is for a person with HIV to lead an otherwise
long and healthy life without ever having the symptoms of AIDS.
Please contact Dave Sackett at bid2win1@yahoo.com
for more information on this project.
More volunteers from the NECPS are wanted to help grow Nepenthes distillatoria
to improve the production of nepenthesin.
For more information on the project visit the project website at
http://www.hxms.neu.edu/research/research.htm
