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CAS CELEBRATES 100TH ANNIVERSARY
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Tracking Prions
Method to detect infectious proteins in soils could help monitor spread of the diseases they cause
A method to extract and quantitatively detect prions from soil samples has been devised by a team of scientists at two National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) labs in France (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2006,40, 1497). The technique could be "a good starting point" to help identify and map prion-contaminated farmland as well as to monitor the fate of prions over time, notes lead author Peggy Rigou.
Prions are malformed proteins that are thought to be the infectious agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), such as mad cow disease, scrapie in sheep, and chronic wasting disease in deer. Prions can persist in soil for years, and some animals are suspected of contracting TSEs by drinking water or grazing on ground that was exposed to the carcasses of dead animals; by-products from animal processing; or animal manure, urine, or blood. read more ......
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i09/8409prions.html