need to make a presentaion about prions? what is prions?

Answer 1

"short for proteinaceous infectious particle (by analogy to virion) — is a type of infectious agent made only of protein. Prions are believed to infect and propagate by refolding abnormally into a structure which is able to convert normal molecules of the protein into the abnormally structured form, and they are generally quite resistant to denaturation by protease, heat, radiation, and formalin treatments, although potency or infectivity can be reduced. The term does not, however, a priori preclude other mechanisms of transmission."

Answer 2

Prions are infectious protein agents. They're the culprits in Mad Cow Disease and similar diseases in people such as kuru.

Standard cooking does not destroy these. This is why Mad Cow Disease is such a big deal, and the affected cattle must be isolated and destroyed, without its parts being used afterward for human food or animal feed.

Answer 3

NOUN: A microscopic protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid, thought to be the infectious agent responsible for scrapie and certain other degenerative diseases of the nervous system.
Additional references: Columbia Encyclopedia