MAD COW DISEASE!
Here is an interesting tid bit that I just picked up today. Did you know that Mad Cow Disease is neither caused by bacteria or virus??? Its actually just a protein... I KNOW! A protein! And I know what you are thinking. Our body has millions of different proteins in it and none of them do anything bad... what exactly is so special about this cow protein???
Well, proteins are very special, huge molecules. Whats amazing about proteins is that it doesn't matter what the hell your protein is made up of, the only important thing is the way its bends and folds, and it is that bending and folding that causes the most basic functions of our body to work. For example, some proteins bend into spirals... and then insert themselves into cell membranes. That spiral then acts as a tunnel, in a otherwise closed off membrane, for nutrients and water to pass through.
The devistating thing about this Mad Cow protein is that it disrupts the bending and folding of most other proteins! So now you see where I'm going with this. And since your proteins aren't bent or folded in the correct geometries, your most basic bodily functions no longer work... and you die.
Coming soon... the avian flu.
Ancient Cannibalism has a Connection to Mad Cow Disease (4/30/2003)
ReplyDeleteAs discussed in Naturally Dangerous, the first recognized version of “mad cow disease,” was kuru, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that killed almost 10% of a New Guinea tribe of cannibals called the Fore. It is believed that the Fore became infected with kuru by eating human brains. A similar, very rare disorder, the Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD), occurs spontaneously in humans, Both brain disorders are thought to be derived from deformed proteins referred to as prions. These contorted prions are believed to cause the prions that naturally occur in the brain to misfold, clump up, and kill brain cells. Other versions of these “prion diseases” are known as mad cow disease, scrapie in sheep, and the wasting disease in deer and elk. Now genetic studies have found a connection between the genes that code for prion proteins and susceptibility towards the human prion diseases, kuru and CJD. Those people having two identical copies of this gene are more susceptible to developing CJD than people having two different variations of this gene. It is believed that natural selection has resulted in a higher than expected percentage of people who have the two different versions of this gene and thus some protection against prion diseases. It is speculated that this situation might have come about because ancient people practiced cannibalism! This “politically incorrect” idea offends some anthropologists. (Science, April 11, 2003, Vol. 300, p. 228)
Yeah, they say the same thing about sickel cell disease and malaria. The malaria parasite attacks the hemogloben molecules that transport oxygen around the body via red blood cells. In areas were there is a high instance of malaria, there is a high rate of people whose hemogloben molecules warp and bend unnaturally when oxygen levels are low. Using the body's natural screening against cells with defects, that warping of hemogloben causes the red blood cells to warp, and then the body discards them along with any malaria parasite that might be infecting the body. So basically, if you have sickel cell anemia you can't get malaria, but you're going to die a slow painful death anyway, cuz that is not a fun genetic mutation to have. If you don't have sickel cell disease, we all know the effects of malaria.
ReplyDeleteWhats funny is that if you take a college Biology class they'll laud the "natural selection" processes that brought malaria and sickel cell anemia into existance, becuase they counter balance each other. But, both have aweful consequences. If thats the best "natural selection" can do... I'd hate to stick around and see what the hell evolves next.
It appears that prion proteins (the ones responsible for Mad Cow, CJD, scrapie, and CWD) actually bully neighbouring prions into emualate their own contorted shape, causing a domino effect in the neural tissue. Prions occur naturally in all of us, and are believed by some scientists to be an essential part of the way we remember things.
ReplyDeleteThey've been around for a long time, so there's no need to panic. Researchers are only beginning to learn how prion replication works, but progress is almost daily. Just a few days ago, a new "soap" was rushed to market that instantly inactivates harmful prions.
That's a HUGE breakthrough when you consider this is a pathogen that is immune to sterilization. Previously, if a scalpel was used two weeks ago on a CJD victim's brain, and today on yours, you'd have a chance of dying of the brain-wasting disease.