November 05, 2005

Prions suspected in milk. If the thought of giving up cheese and ice cream is more than you can handle, don't worry too much. You should enjoy the time you have because you're probably infected already.
posted by elusiveneutrino 18 years ago
  • Got prions?
  • Got inflamed mammary glands? Also, don't drink milk from sheep with inflamed mammaries.
  • Well, there goes my Saturday.
  • Prion, prioff.
  • Moreover, all those who have died from the disease so far have been from one genetic group, but evidence of vCJD infection in the spleen has been found in a patient who died from another cause and had a different genetic make-up. I want to know what, exactly, this statement means, given it would seem to be somewhat of a limiting factor.
  • why doesn't pasteurization kill them? Is this the Toyota Prion?
  • moneyjane - I couldn't remember off-hand, but found the information here. Basically, in humans there's a normal variation (known as a polymorphism) in one of the amino acids that make up the prion protein (from the prp gene). The amino acid at position 129 can be either methionine (M) or valine (V). As we have two copies of the gene, that means that people can have say 2 copies of the M form (M-M), two copies of the V form (V-V), or one of each (M-V). In the UK population (which should be pretty representative of the world), 37% of people are M-M, 51% are M-V, and 12% are V-V. So far, everyone that has come down with variant CJD has been M-M. That means that if the entire UK population was infected with a mad cow prion, that 37% of people might develop vCJD. (Which is kinda shocking!). There have been reports that 1 or 2 people who are M-V have shown some signs of having a prion infection, but no disease at time of death. It is thought that having an M form of the prion protein makes a person vulnerable to developing vCJD if infected. If you are heterozygous (M-V), the disease progression might be slowed down, so you are likely to die of something else before getting clinical signs of the disease. At present, people who are V-V have not turned up in any vCJD cases. So, overall, of the people who are exposed to mad cow (BSE) prions (an unknown number) we have: 37% who might be prone to developing vCJD within 10-20 years. 51% who might never develop it, or only develop it after 40-50 years. 12% who (according to present hypotheses) might not be susceptible to infection. Sorry for the long reply!
  • Well, we all know there's nothing else left to do... 24/7 sex! Seriously, I guess organic food production is the only possible way out of this processed food nightmare that our consuming habits have become. Shit. So should I be glad not to have children?
  • We could at least stop the practice of drugging sick cows so that they'll continue to produce milk. The logic of that one is mindboggling, but not uncommon from what I've read.
  • We've been drinking Horizon organic milk for about two years... I wonder if we're ok.
  • I think the hard part is the wondering.
  • It would be funny if the reason Bush is degenerating and unable to speak properly is because he caught mad cow from eating beef.
  • petebest: why doesn't pasteurization kill them? Prions don't correspond well with conventional notions of alive/not-alive in the first place, and they survive a lot of things that kill bacteria. Prions are just big molecules (proteins). They carry no genetic information or self-replication equipment, and they have no metabolism or anything recognizable as a life-cycle. But they can "reproduce" in the sense that they can cause other proteins to imitate their shape. They sound a lot like vampires or zombies that way, actually. Prion "reproduction" doesn't create any new proteins, it just changes existing proteins into prions.
  • They sound a lot like vampires or zombies that way, actually. Zombie milk. Brilliant! and thanks for the lesson Gestas and Lagged!
  • PR Watch used to have a free PDF version of the book Mad Cow USA for download on their site, but it appears to have been removed. You can still find it with a strategic Google search.
  • Somewhere,right now, a vegan is looking up the definition of the word "schadenfreude."
  • No one ever considers the vegan zombies. grains! GRAINS!
  • /laughs at ryoshu's post /prion-tainted brain sputters and falters /reads & laughs again at ryoshu's post /repeat
  • **joins in Flagpole's laughing**
  • Mad Cow Breakthrough? Genetically Modified Cattle Are Prion Free Myself, I'm looking forward to BBQ'ing some cloned veal...