All known prion diseases are fatal. Since the immune system does not recognize prions as foreign, no natural protection develops. Scrapie in sheep was first described during the18th century. It has been transmitted to other animals such as mink and cats, and more recently to cows (mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE) through…

  Presentation Speech by Professor Ralf F. Pettersson of the Nobel Committee at , December 10, 1997. Translation of the Swedish text. Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen, This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Stanley B. Prusiner for his discovery of prions – a new biological principle…

Scientific Advisors: Professors at the Karolinska Institute Krister Kristensson, Neuropathology, Ralf Pettersson, Molecular Biology Bengt Winblad, Geriatrics, Nils Ringertz, Medical Cell Genetics and Secretary of the Nobel Assembly. References: Stanley B Prusiner, The Prion Diseases, Scientific American 272, 30-37 (1995) A.Aguzzi, Prion research: the next frontier. Nature 389, 795-798 (1997). K Kristensson and B. Winblad,…

 PrPc   The prion protein exists in two forms. The normal, innocuous protein (PrPc) can change its shape to a harmful, disease-causing form (PrPSc). The conversion from PrPc to PrPSc then proceeds via a chain-reaction. When enough PrPSc proteins have been made they form long filamentous aggregates that gradually damage neuronal tissue. The harmful PrPSc…

My history is not atypical of many Americans: born in the midwest, educated in the East, and now living in the West. My early years were shared between Des Moines, Iowa and Cincinnati, Ohio. Shortly after I was born on May 28, 1942 in Des Moines, my father, Lawrence, was drafted into the United States…

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Presentation Speech by Professor Bertil Andersson of the , December 10, 1997. Translation of the Swedish text. Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen, Life requires energy. Our muscles require energy when we move. We need energy to think. Energy input is required for the production of new biological molecules. This year’s three Nobel…