 |
|
Using plastics to track down prions
June 07, 2002BSE still remains a highly emotive subject. Consumers of beef products are not the only ones to have lingering doubts: Scientific experts point out that there may still be a risk of contamination from the cinders and ashes left over when infected animal carcasses are incinerated. The reason for their caution is that, despite intensive research, we in fact still know relatively little about prions. And there is still no reliable test method capable of providing sure evidence of whether and to what extent prions are destroyed by treatment such as incineration, pyrolysis or thermopressure hydrolysis. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV developed a new BSE indicator. It is the first rapid, low-cost method of measuring the efficacy of treatments used to destroy infected waste.
"The idea for our process grew out of two realizations," explains Peter Eisner. "Firstly that there was no available means of confirming the presence of prions in highly mixed complex waste. And secondly that existing tests required a very high concentration of pathogens to be viable." The researchers from Freising near Munich therefore decided to seek a new approach, and developed an indicator that can be added to the waste material before it undergoes thermal or hydrolytic treatment. Analysis of the residue then reveals to what extent the prions have been destroyed.
"The common view in the scientific community is that the long amino-acid chains of the prion proteins have to be broken down into the shortest possible fragments in order to deactivate them reliably," the expert explains. "Because it is not possible to test the disintegration of the pathogen directly, we have developed this indirect process. The indicator is a polyamide plastic with amide bonds that behave chemically similar to that of the rogue proteins. In just a few hours, we can obtain reliable data on the extent to which its chains of molecules have been broken down in a treatment plant."
The scientists have already demonstrated the indicator material's suitability for use under different processing conditions. At present, they are looking into the way in which the indicator breaks down at different temperatures. Here too, the results so far are highly promising. Later this year, the first thermopressure hydrolysis process in Bavaria is to go into service at an animal carcass disposal plant. The BSE indicator could then be employed in practice for the first time.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
The scientists have already demonstrated the indicator material's suitability for use under different processing conditions. At present, they are looking into the way in which the indicator breaks down at different temperatures. Here too, the results so far are highly promising. Later this year, the first thermopressure hydrolysis process in Bavaria is to go into service at an animal carcass disposal plant. The BSE indicator could then be employed in practice for the first time.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Prions Current Events and Prions News RSSThe Protein Srebp2 Drives Cholesterol Formation in Prion-Infected Neuronal Cells Which May Promote Prion-Dependent Diseases
The regulating protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation, which prions need for their propagation, in prion-infected neuronal cells.
Cell study explains why younger people more at risk of vCJD
Specific cells within the immune system could help explain why younger people are more susceptible to variant CJD, scientists believe.
Prion study reveals first direct information about the protein's molecular structure
A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions.
One nano-step closer to weighing a single atom
By studying gold nanoparticles with highly uniform sizes and shapes, scientists now understand how they lose energy, a key step towards producing nanoscale detectors for weighing any single atom.
Scripps Florida scientists devise accelerated method to determine infectious prion strainsScripps Florida scientists devise accelerated method to determine infectious prion strains
Current tests to identify specific strains of infectious prions, which cause a range of transmissible diseases (such as mad cow) in animals and humans, can take anywhere from six months to a year to yield results - a time-lag that may put human populations at risk.
Redefining what it means to be a prion
Whitehead Institute researchers have quintupled the number of identifiable prion proteins in yeast and have further clarified the role prions play in the inheritance of both beneficial and detrimental traits.
Prion discovery gives clue to control of mass gene expression
The discovery in common brewer's yeast of a new, infectious, misfolded protein -- or prion -- by University of Illinois at Chicago molecular biologists raises new questions about the roles played by these curious molecules, often associated with degenerative brain diseases like "mad cow" and its human counterpart, Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
Antibody key to treating variant CJD, scientists find
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have determined the atomic structure of the 'binding' between a brain protein and an antibody that could be key to treating patients with diseases such as variant CJD.
Self-regulating molecular 'transformers' control intracellular protein delivery
Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have uncovered the Transformer like properties of molecules responsible for carrying and depositing proteins to their correct locations within cells.
Study confirms vCJD could be transmitted by blood transfusion
The findings underline the importance of precautions against vCJD transmission, such as the Government decision in 2004 to ban blood donations from anyone who had received a blood transfusion since 1980.
More Prions Current Events and Prions News Articles
 |
The Pathological Protein: Mad Cow, Chronic Wasting, and Other Deadly Prion Diseases by Philip Yam (Author) In 1996, British doctors were horrified to discover that mad cow disease (BSE), an affliction that had been plaguing British cattle for ten years, had jumped the species barrier and was appearing in humans as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Not unlike the mad cows, victims of vCJD suffer from a degenerative neurological disease that peppers the brain with microscopic holes, causing dementia, loss of motor control, and certain death. What alarms researchers and public health officials worldwide is that the incubation period for vCJD may be as long as 10 or even 15 years, and during this period those infected are symptom-free. And because the disease is so far undetectable except by autopsy, there is no way of knowing with certainty how many people have already been infected. In... |
 |
Deadly Feasts: The "Prion" Controversy and the Public's Health by Richard Rhodes (Author) In this brilliant and gripping medical detective story. Richard Rhodes follows virus hunters on three continents as they track the emergence of a deadly new brain disease that first kills cannibals in New Guinea, then cattle and young people in Britain and France -- and that has already been traced to food animals in the United States. In a new Afterword for the paperback, Rhodes reports the latest U.S. and worldwide developments of a burgeoning global threat. |
 |
Prion Biology and Diseases, Second Edition (Cold Spring Harbor Monograph Series) by Stanley B. Prusiner (Author), Stanley B. Prusiner (Editor) A new edition of the most authoritative book in its field, first published in 1999 and edited by the Nobel Prize–winning founder of the field. This edition is expanded and completely updated, and includes chapters on therapeutics, and diagnostic methods and approaches. |
|
Prion by Landes Bioscience % Jesse | |
 |
thirtytwo Women's Prion Snowboard Boot,White/Mint,8.5 M US by thirtytwo |
 |
Prions: The New Biology of Proteins by Claudio Soto (Author) The current interest in prion diseases has been fueled by the panic that originated from the appearance of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and the evidence linking it to human exposure to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent. Peer-reviewed to assure accuracy, this book describes the science, concepts, hypothesis, and mechanisms of prion disease transmission. It covers human and animal prion diseases, their incidence, prevalence, origin, and clinical and neuropathologic characteristics. The author provides scientific facts and a clear explanation of the relevance and implications of the findings for science in general. |
 |
thirtytwo Men's Prion Ft Snowboard Boot,Blue/White/Gum,10 M US by thirtytwo The zonal lacing system on the ThirtyTwo Mens Prion Fast Track Snowboard Boot is so quick, easy, and precise, youll have a better fit and be ready to hit the chair faster than your buddy. This pisses him off since he turned in early last night and you partied til three (and are still functioning at 20 percent). Product FeaturesMaterial: [Upper] synthetic; [Sole] rubberLacing System: Fast TrackFlex: 4 Out of 10 on ThirtyTwos scaleRemovable Liner: Yes, moldableRecommended Use: ShreddingManufacturer Warranty: 1 Year |
|
Time of Plagues Prion (Performer) Tracks include: Senseless Miseries, To the Abyss of Hell, Envy & Hate, The Plagues, Executed, Beyond the Period, Armenia, The Opposite, and Instrumental. Argentinian metal. | |
 |
What Guys Want: Roberty Prion Adult Gay Video Starring: Jay Richards, Blake Andrews Directed By: Robert Prion Also With: Cody Marshall (Primary Contributor), Bryon Rogers (Primary Contributor), Vincent DeMarco (Primary Contributor), Michel Mattel (Primary Contributor), Gianni Pasquale (Primary Contributor), Dustin Jeffreys (Primary Contributor), Alex Turner (Primary Contributor), Scott Williams (Primary Contributor), Tyler Morgan (Primary Contributor), Rob Walker (Primary Contributor) What Guys Want, like most of Robert Prion's skin flicks, is a low-budget romp-fest starring a cadre of young, slim "real"-looking guys. These are not the waxed, sculpted, groomed-within-an-inch-of-their-lives porn pups some viewers may be used to. The skinny boys in this video (with the exception of older brother type Jay Richards) resemble what one might find cruising the food court at a local mall. Most of the boys are pierced and/or tattooed. They feature nice parts and plenty of enthusiasm for their work. |
 |
Prions pour les éléphants (Instrumentale) Ruth zopo (Primary Contributor) |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |