Scientists Make Madcow Prion in Lab for First Time

[barbaraann]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have for the first time made a prion in the laboratory and used it to demonstrate that the misfolded proteins are indeed the sole cause of mad cow disease, the U.S. and German scientists reported Thursday.
...
"Our study demonstrates that misfolding a particular segment of the normal prion protein is sufficient to transform the protein into infectious prions," said lead researcher Giuseppe Legname at the University of California San Francisco. Scientists from the Heinrich-Heine Universitat in Duesseldorf, Germany also took part in the study.
...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&e=18&u=/nm/science_prion_dc

Scary, very scary.

[goforit]

1. WOW!!!.....This is an exciting development!!!

I always thought that they had alot to do with
alzhiemers.

Hope they can find a cure!!!

[mom cat]

2. How are they going to dispose of the nasty thing once they have

created it? A new level 4 lab is planned to be built just a couple of miles from my house, so this is more than just a theoretical question. After watching years of promises of progress fade as the "unintended consequences" created more problems than they solved, I am suggesting real caution. That's all.

[barbaraann]

3. It worries me, too.

I hope you're safe.

[mom cat]

4. Thanks for your concern. I finally realized that no place is totally

safe, but that we are safer when we join ranks...:hug:

[NickB79]

5. There are a number of caustic chemicals that can denature them

Everyone talks about how tough they are to destroy, but that is mainly in relation to how tough they are to COOK until they are destroyed. In laboratory settings, prions are fairly easily denatured with chemicals such as NaOH.

Even if they weren't destroyed, the number of prions they are synthesizing is miniscule and non-mobile. Its not like an air-borne virus that can float away if a vial breaks. Its also not like someone could get infected easily and spread the contamination far and wide. Person-to-person prion transfer is extremely rare (although it can happen when surgical equipment is reused and the autoclave doesn't sufficiently sterilize the equipment).

[mom cat]

8. Thanks. I just hope that they do not become weaponized by us or

some other idiots who want to have power over everyone else.

[Octafish]

6. More to make the Mad Cowboy happy.

The more ways to end the world,
the merrier.
Jes' as long as I'm a survivor.

[BiggJawn]

7. Oh, lovely..The "Andromeda Strain" is reality....

Wondr how much DoD money UoC gets?

[InkAddict]

9. Mycoplasma mfg by Army acts in "prion" ailments

http://www.whale.to/m/scott7.html

[belle]

10. Um, well, on the other side, isn't that, you know, the way to find a cure?

Or at least the first step? To find out how it works?...