Genetics

Neurodegeneration can be studied long before symptoms arise

Many changes take place in the brain long before symptoms appear. This has been shown in mice in two studies of prion diseases in which the brain gradually deteriorates. The results suggest that changes can be studied extremely ...

Medical research

Impact of prion proteins on the nerves revealed for the first time

When prion proteins mutate, they trigger mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Although they are found in virtually every organism, the function of these proteins remained unclear. Researchers from the University of Zurich ...

Medical research

New drug offers hope in fight against mad cow disease

A new drug compound could lead to a breakthrough in the fight against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the incurable brain-wasting disease also known as mad cow disease, researchers said Wednesday.

Medical research

The flexible tail of the prion protein poisons brain cells

For decades, there has been no answer to the question of why the altered prion protein is poisonous to brain cells. Neuropathologists from the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich have now shown that it is ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Household bleach inactivates chronic wasting disease prions

A 5-minute soak in a 40% solution of household bleach decontaminated stainless steel wires coated with chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions, according to a new study by National Institutes of Health scientists. The scientists ...

Medical research

Experimental treatment slows prion disease, extends life of mice

Scientists using an experimental treatment have slowed the progression of scrapie, a degenerative central nervous disease caused by prions, in laboratory mice and greatly extended the rodents' lives, according to a new report ...

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