Prions
A prion is a
membrane glycoprotein particle that lacks nucleic acid (DNA/RNA)
and is hydrophobic. Prions have been found to be the source of
several diseases such as scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform
encephalopathies (BSE), or mad cow disease in cattle, and
chronic wasting disease in cervids. Prions are also the basis
for human degenerative diseases such as Kuru and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. As a whole these diseases are referred to as transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies, or TSEs. TSEs are characterized by a buildup
of pathogens in the neurological tissue of animals.
Check out the web pages that my classmates have made for some of the mammals affected by prions.
Odocoileus virginianus, White tailed deer