Prion

1.1 Prions Prions are an incongruous pathogen that is causative of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE); a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases found in mammals. This abnormal proteinaceous particle is believed to be a post-translational mutation of a normal cellular protein found in the brain (Emmanuel, 2002). This naturally occurring pathogen acts similarly to a viral infection, however as it lacks nucleic acid it is invulnerable to death via means of antibiotics or sterilisation

occurs when disease prions are shed by infected animals through saliva, urine, feces and natural decomposition after death. A prion is the agent that transmits TSE category diseases. In addition, CWD prions are extremely resistant to the environment, and transmission may occur directly between animals or indirectly between uninfected animals and the environment (Witkowski 3). Thus, the disease is highly contagious, as the prions are very hardy and can survive nearly anywhere. The prions adhere and bind

Whitetail Populations Over just a century ago the whitetail deer population became nearly extinct, mostly due to a rapid expansion in the railroad system. At this same time market hunting, weak enforcement of game laws, and habitat loss contributed to the dangerously low deer populations in the late 1800’s. In states like Kansas and Indiana deer were completely extinct, being endangered in many others. With the whitetail deer population doubling every two years there is an estimated thirty million

While dysfunction of prion proteins remains the most widely accepted etiology of BSE, the USDA suggests there may be two other possible theories that could better explain the manifestation of BSE: the virino theory and the virus theory. However, both theories pale in comparison to the robust evidence in support of the prions theory. A major argument that works against both the virino theory and virus theory is that throughout

fatal disease are called prions. Prions are protienaceous infectious particles formed when normal proteins misfold and clump together, which causes the brain to be filled with tiny holes resembling a sponge. Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s Disease is categorized under the umbrella of encephalitis, which is a type of neuromuscular disease. The chief complaint for this disease is failing memory, behavioral changes,

injection. Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s Disease (CJD) is a rare, degenerative, invariably fatal brain disorder, derived from transmissible spongiform encephalopathy caused by prions. Prions occur in a normal state, which are harmless proteins found in the body’s cells, and also in an infectious form that causes disease. Harmless forms of prion proteins have the same sequence of amino acids, but the infectious forms of protein have a different folded shape than normal proteins.

Sleep is a critical part of almost everyone’s daily life. Despite that, most people take it for granted and do not consider what might occur to them were they not able to have it; these people would be the envy of the families suffering from the genetic disorder of ‘Fatal Familial Insomnia’. As the name does imply, one who is diagnosed with the extremely rare disease is under a death sentence brought on by progressively worsening insomnia. It is not well-known that sleep deprivation can lead to

The first new human prion is discovered in almost 50 years. Prions are misfolded proteins that make copies of themselves by inducing others to misfold, they multiply and cause disease. The resulting illness is MSA, a neurodegenerative disease similar to Parkinson's. An experiment shows that: the mice injected with these samples all developed disease within 3.5 to 5 months. Mice with two copies develop disease spontaneously, after about 10 months, but mice with one copy remain healthy. Injecting either

What is Alzheimer’s disease? Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia known today. The term “dementia” refers to a variety of conditions that arise from the loss of nerve cell function and/or nerve cell death in the brain, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other types of mixed dementia. Although all types of dementia arise from neuronal damage and/or death, each form of dementia is associated with distinct brain

Chupacabra is Spanish for “goat sucker”. The creature’s name derives from stories in Latin America of several dead goats with puncture wounds in their necks and all the blood drained from their bodies. Most experts believe the Chupacabra to be a coyote with mange, which is a skin disease that can cause their hair to fall out and the skin to shrivel. In humans, mange is just mildly annoying. But it can be fatal in canines. Chupacabras have been described as resembling a rodent or reptile, with