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Prion diseases

Cannibals and garbage piles

Nature volume 423, pages 127–128 (2003)Cite this article

There's a lot of disagreement among prion scientists, as a recent conference made very clear. Even the revered 'prion hypothesis' came under attack.

After more than 280,000 mad cows and two Nobel prizes for research on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, we must know all there is to know about these 'prion' diseases. Or do we? This question was asked at a recent symposiumFootnote 1, which looked at topics such as the cell biology of the normal prion protein and of its misshapen, disease-associated form; how the brain becomes damaged; and diagnosis and treatment. It was clear that, in all of these areas and more, there's still a long way to go.

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Notes

  1. *Keystone Symposium on Molecular Aspects of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Prion Diseases). Breckenridge, Colorado, 2–6 April 2003.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, CH-8091, Switzerland

    Adriano Aguzzi & Mathias Heikenwalder

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  1. Adriano Aguzzi
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  2. Mathias Heikenwalder
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Correspondence to Adriano Aguzzi.

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Aguzzi, A., Heikenwalder, M. Cannibals and garbage piles. Nature 423, 127–128 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/423127a

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