by EnergyUnlimited » Sun 17 Oct 2021, 05:15:20
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', 'T')hat just means it's going to be unpredictable.
That's all pretty cool stuff.
What I mean by a prion is some kind of particle which causes proteins that would otherwise fold properly, not to fold properly, or some such explanation. The separately verifiable by experiment particle. It has even survived the autoclave. That is part of the reason, I guess, that leaping to it being a particle of some kind came to the people's minds in some article I read about this kind of thing years ago, when I was first thinking about traveling to the UK?
The cannibalism thing is more from some article I remembered about native tribes in New Guinea. That one went deep into the incidence of the disease. So, that's my only angle.
Prion is an abnormal version of protein called PrP which is produced and present in many cells.
Contact of healthy version of PrP protein with a prion converts the former into new prion particle.
So it can be compared to crystallization.
Prion is closer to thermodynamic equilibrium than healthy version of this protein.
You can make such an experiment: Take deionized water, boil it well to get rid of dissolved air, place in a very clean jar and place in freezer (-3*C) *undisturbed*.
Sometimes it will crystallize but on odd occasion it will cool to -3*C and not freeze.
The cleaner the water the more you can cool it this way.
Such water is called "supercooled". It can be also called "metastable form".
Now drop a crystal of ice into this supercooled water.
You will observe rapid freezing in the jar.
So imagine that your body is working in this "metastable form" and prion is that bit of ice added, which converts remaining PrP protein into more stable form, killing you in the process.
Prions will be destroyed in autoclave but only above 130 - 150*C, or above 200*C according to some other works.
But it is a good practice not to reuse surgical instruments coming into contact with CJD patients.
So they are usually destroyed.
It is rare that doctors try to sterilize such instruments from prion contamination.
Too much risk.
CJD is known to be transmitted on odd occasion by contaminated medical equipment.
Regarding UK: due to presence of bovine variant of CJD in UK cattle and widespread beef consumption in the UK it is estimated that about 1 in 2000 of people who was living in the UK in 1980-1992 might be contaminated with bovine prions.
Because bovine prion is not identical to human version it has more difficulty in setting disease going and it may take several decades to start going.
Also only individuals who have Methionine rather than Leucine (both are aminoacids - building blocks of proteins) in one particular position of PrP protein are susceptible to infection by
bovine version of prion.
Fortunately only 1 in 5 people has Methionine variant of PrP protein and also it takes few decades to develop disease upon exposure to bovine trigger, so there will be only rather few additional cases of CJD.
Of course vegetarians are safe
