Byron, Former Students Author Article

Colleen Byron, Professor of Chemistry at Ripon College, was part of a team that published “Secondary Coenzyme Q10 Deficiency and Oxidative Stress in Cultured Fibroblasts from Patients with Riboflavin Responsive Multiple Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenation Deficiency” in the May 31, 2013 edition of Human Molecular Genetics.

She collaborated on the work with the late F.E. Frerman of the University of Colorado Health Sciences, as well as three graduates of Ripon College, Samuel Sondalle ’11, Heather Nennig ’11, and James Rindt ’13.

According to Byron, in the publication, “we are helping to address events that occur when we derive energy from the metabolism of fats and similar biological compounds. The electrical energy that is generated is funneled through a protein conduit inside of the cell that results in the conversion of oxygen to water… If either of the two proteins that make up this conduit have genetic abnormalities, there can be a loss of energy to the cell and thus a loss of energy to the patient.” This can be mild, she says, or it can be fatal.

She and the students also presented work related to the study in a poster at the 245th American Chemical Society National Meeting on April 7-13, 2013 in New Orleans.

To learn more about the Chemistry Department at Ripon College, click here.

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