Slashdot Mirror
New Mad Cow Test on the Horizon?
pin_gween writes "Prions are thought to be responsible for mad cow disease and its human variant, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. Until now, the only way to positively ID those infected was to dissect the brain. Canada.com has an AP wire reporting that researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have 'developed a method of multiplying the number prions in a blood sample so a blood test then can detect them.' If perfected, it would make the blood supply safer; transfusions can spread the disease between people. It could also open up more blood donations for the Red Cross: in the U.S., people who have spent more than 3 months total (since 1980) in the UK or 6 months total (since 1980) in Europe are banned from donating."
will it determine if the woman I am about to marry will turn into a mad cow down the track.... now that would truely be a useful test.
Prions can also be spread via cannibalism- although cannibals can rest assured that as far as prions are concerned, eating brains is still much, much safer than receiving transfusions.
cow1: Do you worry about mad cow disease?
cow2: Why should I? I'm a rabbit.