First, I am very sorry to have missed classes. The lectures and conversation are very exciting to read about.
My classmates have done exceptionally well reiterating the precipis of the article and, though it was scientifically laden, seem to understand what a prion is. Having a few years on you, I am not surprised by the methodology and hypothesis testing that has evolved with this mysterious protein. I must say I am extremely thankful that science is not so exact that the prion has is being re~ examined and not dismissed. I often question why we do not hear more about these studies.
Personally, I have experience with this type of disease. From the dementia within my own family to the Parkinson’s disease that my boyfriend’s mother has contracted, I have seen why this protein gone wild is known as the ‘zombie’ maker.
I remember well the ‘mad cow’ disease scare. During that time, because I was pregnant, I decided to avoid all meats. But as the hoopla died down, and both the UK governing bodies,as well as our own FDA, assured us it was isolated and CJD was only contracted by one in a million, I, along with most everyone else, went back to my occasional Big Mac’s. In researching further the hypothesis of how this disease manifested in cows I understand more the argument for organically grown meats. There is consideration that cows were fed sheep and goats that unbeknownst to the farmer, carried scrapies. Once humans ate the beef, they were susceptible to contracting prion based diseases. Kuru, found in New Guinea, was also transmitted through ingesting diseased meat, found in cannibalistic populations. In response to a question in another post, the New Guinea government did place strong sanctions on the practice of cannibalism which did curtail further contraction than the supposed 4000 affected.
The truly frightening part is that once the proteins begin to fold and mutate there is no stopping them. There is no cure. The prion based diseases are not only inheritable but also spontaneous and give rise to infectious material by utilizing the prion proteins which already exist in our bodies. The assumed crossing species barrier has no known resistance.
It does make one wonder what information scientists give to the government, and what we as the general population receive. Farmers, especially the beef industry, are an important commodity to the countries bottom line. What are the possibilities that we are not receiving the information needed to make informed decisions on what we ingest? I for one will reconsider a non~ mammal based diet…just in case…