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Scientists in California have created the first synthetic versionof prions. These are the so-called "rogue proteins" that areresponsible for mad cow disease. To understand the significance ofthis research, it helps to fully understand what prions are in thefirst place and how they cause mad cow disease. Prions areabnormally folded proteins, that is, they have been physicallyfolded into an unnatural shape that is alien to the bodies of bothhumans and animals. Unfortunately, they cause a domino effect, sothat one prion will cause the proteins nearby to also fold in a similar shape, and it begins to cascadethroughout the nervous system tissue of the host. In time, it causes the brain of a cow or a human being to turn into a large mass of foldedproteins, sometimes called mad cow mush. And this is, of course, what has killed the people who havedied from mad cow disease so far. Now, the really strange thing about prions is that they are contagious. If a human being eats a piece of beef that is contaminated with spinal cord tissue or brain tissue froma cow suffering from mad cow disease , those consumed prions can begin to cause a cascading collapse of their brain tissue.This is a cross-species problem that is highly infectious, and itis resistant to the traditional efforts used to defend againstinfectious diseases. For example, you might think that cooking a piece of beef contaminated with mad cow disease would destroythe prions, but in fact, since prions are not living microorganismsor viruses, cooking does absolutely nothing to destroy them. Youcan cook a prion all you want, but it's still a folded protein , and when you eat it, you may still get mad cow disease. Socooking isn't the answer to stopping the spread of this disease. Prions have baffled researchers for years, and there is newevidence that prions can also be spread through blood transfusions.What scientists don't understand is how prions can be so contagious when there'snothing living in there. How can they survive cooking and radiationand all these other treatments that would normally destroyinfectious agents, and yet still manage to infect hosts regardlessof their species? It's a baffling issue. Now, with the researchersin California who have created artificial prions, we have the first potentialfor new research on prions that can be conducted in a laboratory. Scientists canlook at these prions in a sterile environment and determine moreaccurately how they operate and how they cause such a rapidcascading effect in the nervous system of biological hosts. This research, of course, could shed new light on strategies forpreventing the spread of prions and also for detecting prions,especially in cattle and other animals used for food. The bottom line on this research is that itprobably makes the beef industry quite nervous to have anybody actually taking a closer look atprions in the first place. The USDA has attempted to quiet anydiscussion of prions and pretend that there are no prions in U.S.cattle whatsoever. The U.S. beef supply is perfectly free of mad cow disease, according to the USDA , and yet, people familiar with the industry are saying that mad cow disease is rampant in U.S. herds and thatthere are prions in beef products on the grocery store shelvesright now. Hopefully with this new independent research on prions, we can getcloser to the truth on this subject and help protect the publicfrom the risk of mad cow disease. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Wire Shelving Accessories Manufacturer , Logistic Cart, and more. For more , please visit Stainless Steel Garment Rack today!
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