Prions–the name comes from “proteinaceous infectious particle”–were big news in the 1980s, when it became clear that these proteins caused disease. But more than 30 years after they were discovered, ...

"Scrapie" is the old Scottish shepherds' name for a disease of their sheep which has been known for several centuries. It is the original example of a group of diseases, known as the "transmissible ...

When sprayed into the air, prions that cause mad cow and other neurodegenerative diseases may be in one of their most lethal forms. A new study has revealed one short exposure to sprayed prions can be ...

Prions, mysterious shape-shifting proteins, can lead to brain disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, "mad cow disease" in cattle, yet they can also ...

Prions are not rare, usually are not harmful and may even help organisms adapt, a new study in yeast suggests. Prions are shape-shifting proteins that change function along with their shapes, and can ...

Researchers have identified the amino acid sequences that allow prions to aggregate and replicate - and thereby pass through generations of cells - and prove this by designing an artificial yeast ...

In the novel Cat's Cradle, an eccentric scientist develops a substance called Ice-9 that crystallizes every drop of water it touches. Eventually, it freezes the world's oceans. Now, 40 years after ...

People with the rare and fatal brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) show signs of the disease in their eyes, according to a new study. The study found evidence of prions — the infectious ...