Artificial Prion Created

jabberjaw writes "Nature is reporting that researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a synthetic prion which, when injected into mice will bring about symptoms similar to those displayed by cattle suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, aka mad cow disease. The researchers first crafted healthy prion proteins using bacteria. They then shook these proteins until they resembled the tangled structure of an unhealthy prion. Afterwords, these prions were injected into the brains of mice who fell ill two years later. Perhaps someone who is more familiar with this field of research would care to fill us in on the details as the article was rather light."

Comments

Re:Ugh

[Canberra Bob]

You are not the only one!

So what exactly would artificial pron be? The mind boggles!

Artificial pr0n created??

[john_smith_45678]

Um, artificial pr0n has been being created for a LONG time! Do some Googling next time:

http://www.google.com/search?q=fake+celebrity+porn

Oh...wait...the title is Artificial Prion Created. NM, carry on ;P

carbs

[tiredwired]

That's taking the low-carb craze a little too far.

Re:One thing it will show?

[Lars T.]

He certainly couldn't remember anything about the Iran-Contra mess.

Re:One thing it will show?

[Lars T.]

Not even his film critics.

Re:WMD

[BrokenHalo]

Terrorists are after short term inciting of fear and panic.

Something like, for instance, an attack calculated to "shock and awe", perhaps?

G.W. Shrub fits most of the definitions of "terrorist" quite handily.