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Nature 410, 161-162 (8 March 2001) | doi:10.1038/35065778

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Prions: The shape of a species barrier

Susan W. Liebman

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Intriguing in vitro results highlight the possibility that conformational differences between prion proteins with the same sequence contribute to the barrier that limits prion propagation between species.

The recent epidemics of 'mad cow' disease have put the fatal, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies — the so-called prion diseases — firmly in the public eye. It seems likely that the infectious agent in these mammalian diseases is the PrP protein, in the absence of traditional genetic material (nucleic acid).