Prion - New Answer or the Old Riddle
Abstract
Life, like the eternal and unsolved riddle, and to Science, which tries to find the answers, are both the inspires to each other. The interrelations between live and live, and life and death, move us towards the question about the beginning (or maybe the end) of life. Where is the place of PRION in all these philosophical thinking? It now appears that an infectious agent named a prion may stand out as a remarkable exception to the rule that every organism carries nucleic acid defining its own identity. The prion is known as capable of initiating the production of new prions, at least in certain mammalian cells. Prion diseases are the group of neurological diseases known in humans as: kuru sCJD, fCJD, ICJD, nvCJD, GSS, Fl, and in animals as: TME, CWD, FSE, BSE and SCPAPIE. Most of these diseases became by ingestion of by products of sheep that have the disease to scrape off much of their wool. Changes brought on by the disease are confined to the central nervous system. A consistent indicator is abnormal proliferation of the astrocytes, a class of supporting cells in the brain. In neurons there is a depletion of dendritic spines, which have a role in the transmission of nerve impulses. In some of the disorders numerous vacuoles give the brain tissue a spongy appearance. Prions contain protein and reproduce in the living cell, yet no DNA or RNA has been found in them. What is the nature of their genome? Could these facts can be the possibility of creation of new agents for terrorists, and could the mechanisms of the most hidden secrets of the life be used to create evil? Are prions potential BUG of the 21. century, and are we , humans, capable of making antidote for them?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADP013399
Entities
People
- Ankica Cizmek
- Josip Talapko