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Published online 20 January 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050117-11
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Prions discovered in unexpected organs
Immune system helps BSE proteins spread through the body.
One assumption lies at the root of efforts to keep the meat we eat safe from mad cow disease: that tissues beyond an animal's brain, spinal cord and immune system are free of the prions that cause the disease.
A disturbing study now shows that assumption to be false.
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