Prion Replication

It remains to be seen if autoimmune diseases are actually responses to self, when it’s at least possible they are infectious diseases where the pathogen has yet to be isolated. There may be many infectious proteins, like the prions Stanley Prusiner first purified in 1982. To study these dangerous particles, Italian researchers have developed means for synthesizing prions, from which they might learn what makes these proteins so resistant to proteases. MORE

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