True Nature Of Prions

The True Nature of Prions         Research conducted only over the dead couple of decades has unveiled a untried type of infectious agent quite un same(p) all currently turn in bacteria and viruses. This pathogen, which causes fatal molest to the brain and surrounding rudimentary nervous system of humans and different mammals, is called a prion. It has not been completely resolved as to how these agents propagate or how they nuclear number 18 composed. The word itself derives from ?proteinaceous infectious fraction, which refers to a belatedly compulsive guessing that the infectious agent create these diseases consists only of protein, with no nucleic acid genome (all previously known pathogens, much(prenominal) as bacteria and viruses, contain nucleic acids which enable them to reproduce). While integrity current hypothesis deals with the structural nature of these newly spy agents, the opposite recently proposed hypothesis attempts to answer the question of replication. The new line of try out appears to support the theory that the prion interacts with the soldiery cells to turn on the governor genes. This gene then begins to constitute new proteins identical to the prion (Prescott 388-89).         In an effort to support the beginning idea that prions have no genetic material, the scientists first subjected a prion sample to enormous amounts of unseeable radiation.

Nucleic acids are relatively touchy molecules, and ultraviolet light soft breaks some of the bonds between the person atoms of the genetic material. Proteins, on th e other hand, form stronger intermolecular b! onds and are better equipped to last the high radiation levels. using a variety of other methods to study the sample, observing things like molecular mass and particle size, the scientists found that the prion particles remained entirely constitutional (Prusine).         Another way to damage nucleic acids is to introduce the molecule to higher temperatures. It was not surprising that the... If you trust to get a encompassing essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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