one more threat

[RWebb]

Airborne Prions Make for 100 Percent Lethal Whiff | Wired Science | Wired.com

[GH85Carrera]

Oh goodie another thing for TSA to look for!

[Aurel]

Sure looks dangerous...

[island911]

sheesh, first a Prius with a solar panel, and now a Prius with maglev.

[M.D. Holloway]

Very interesting stuff - makes you wonder how many disorders are attributed to prions? Bacterium, viruses and now prions. Makes you wonder what else...

[RWebb]

isn't biochemistry fun? just think what you missed...

[GH85Carrera]

Prions are amazing. I saw a TV show (so I am an expert) about the Prions that cause Mad Cow Disease. They burned the prion tainted meat to ash, and it was still contagious. They put it in a strong solution of acid and even chlorine and it was still contagious. They put it in the soil in a growing environment and it took many months or years for the prions to be destroyed.

So just sprinkle the stuff on the ground and it will infect every plant eating animal and work it's way up the food chain to humans.

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

So just sprinkle the stuff on the ground and it will infect every plant eating animal and work it's way up the food chain to humans.

Something a government could easily spray over crops from airplanes to kill their own population.

[RWebb]

something AQ could use in a variety of ways

or Iran

Prions have many of the characteristics of life & are infectious particles made of proteins - they are hard to "kill" & withstand common autoclaves, but I am surprised if they can really survive being burned to ash. They should denature like other proteins.

[M.D. Holloway]

I would think you could break them down with certain enzymes. I would think that if these things do infact look and act like proteins they must have peptides bonds that can be broken no?

Mad Cow and Alziemers seem similar. I wonder if as we age we loose the ability to break certain prions down that cause Alziemers?

[RWebb]

there must be enzymes that work on them - they have likely evolved to resist easy attacks

I haven't looked into this area for years, so don't know what has been found out recently re prions.

[M.D. Holloway]

Mutations, anomolies are designed? If theyare not 'living' like bacteria and they are not parasitic like viruses than what is the genisis? Not understanding how they came about.

[porsche4life]

We actually briefly discussed prions thursday in Micro. I'll dig out my books when I get back to my apartment. I don't think the lecture goes into it again for a while....

[RWebb]

genesis may not ne known - one idea re genesis of proto-life is that replication evolved from clay structures used as templates (NOT TO GET TOO bIBLICAL ON YA,, BUT THINK ABOUT IT...)

is likely that our replication machinery evolved in reverse - proteins maybe, then RNA, then DNA

too bad that ***** don't fossilize, eh?