OT: Prions, Mad Cow Disease, & Breaking Down Prions

[Guest guest]

Prions are bits of protein which are unusually resistant to being

broken down and deactivated. Mad Cow Disease is believed to be

caused in total (or in part) by a particular prion. (Manganese may

also play a role.) The problem with the prion-based illnesses is

that prions are resistant to being broken down to their amino acid

building blocks.

 

A scientist in the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina

State University (Raleigh, NC, USA) has discovered an enzyme which

can break down prions. Dr. Jason Shih, a biotechnology and poultry

science professor, orginally got interested in the enzyme as a means

of breaking down chicken feathters. Waste disposal is a big problem

in agriculture, and the protein in chicken feathers is unusually

tight and hard to break-down. Dr. Shih discovered keratinase, an

enzyme produced by certain bacteria, can break it down.

 

He started to wonder if keratinase can break down the protein in

chicken feathers, could it also break down prions. He shipped off a

sample of the enzyme to a collegue in the Netherlands, and it can.

 

Shih is producing the enzyme at NC State, but the reaseach is being

done at the Center for Animal Disease Control in Lelystad,

Netherlands. (Info from NC State magazine, Summer 2003, p. 10.)

 

Also in the news from the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State,

Dr. Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt continues to work on biosecurity

problems. Biosecurity concerns are not limited to terrorism but

mainly have to do with non-terrorist spread of illnesses. Dr.

Vaillancourt developed a computer program that plays like a game

which helps farmers to keep farms safe from infection.

 

" His computer screen flashes a farmyard cartoon of blue sky, green

grass and red flags waving at various buildings. Clicking here and

there, he answers questions. Do your pets have access to the poultry

barn? Score low. Is there a gate to the farm? Score high. " (p.

9.) The program also answers questions about how to " get in and out

of a farm without spreading disease. Using the game format, farmers

can measure biosecurity - how secure their farm is from diseases -

and take corrective measures. " (p. 9.)

 

Victoria