BSE - A Post Industrial Disease?February 13, 2001Ahead of the Commons debate on BSE due to be held next week, an alternative hypothesis about the origin and behaviour of BSE and vCJD is posed in the latest issue of the SCI publication Chemistry & Industry. Dr David Brown of the University of Cambridge suggests that prion diseases are ‘post-industrial phenomena that will spread in relation to the period and extent of industrialisation in different countries’. Dr Brown asserts that the ‘most staggering falsehoods’ currently surrounding the BSE issue are ‘that BSE was caused by transmission of the sheep disease scrapie to cattle; that vCJD is caused by eating beef; and that all current BSE is caused by eating beef.’ Citing ongoing research, Dr Brown suggests that ‘an imbalance of metals in the brain might lead to the formation of prions’ and highlights preliminary data from two independent groups indicating a ten-fold increase of manganese levels in the brains of CJD patients. With outbreaks of BSE in Germany and Spain hitting the headlines, Dr Brown calls for a more measured and scientific approach to testing the various theories surrounding the issue to ensure that all possibilities are considered.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Science Research Departments
Earth Science Alternative Energy | Anthropology and Archaeology | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | Environment and Nature News | Global Warming | High-Energy and Particle Physics | Ozone Hole | Scientists Slow Light | Tsunami Space Science Astronomy and Space News | Black Holes | Chandra X-Ray Observatory | Extrasolar Planets | Hubble Telescope | International Space Station | Jupiter Galileo Mission | Jupiter Cassini Mission Flyby | Mars Exploration | Mars Odyssey 2001 | Mars Global Surveyor | Mars Polar Lander | Mars Climate Orbiter | Mars Pathfinder | Meteors and Asteroids | Mir Space Station | NEAR Asteroid Probe Mission | Pluto Planet Debate | Search for Extraterrestrial Life | Space Shuttle Program | Space Shuttle Mission: STS-102 | Space Weather Life Science Animal News | Biotechnology and Genetics | Brain Research | Human Cloning | Dinosaur and Fossil Discoveries | Endangered Species | Gene Therapy | Genetically Modified Food | Stem Cell Research | Whales and Whaling |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||