Stanley Prusiner's Prion Research

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Stanley Prusiner's groundbreaking research on prions revolutionized the understanding of infectious diseases. He identified prions as infectious proteins that can cause neurodegenerative diseases, challenging traditional views that disease agents must contain nucleic acids like DNA or RNA. Prusiner's work began with the study of scrapie, a disease affecting sheep, and led to the discovery of a new class of pathogens. He coined the term "prion" in 1982, proposing that these proteinaceous infectious particles were responsible for diseases like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Prusiner's findings, initially met with skepticism, were later recognized with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1997. His research showed that prions can exist in two forms: a normal, harmless conformation and a disease-causing form. The disease form can induce normal proteins to misfold, leading to brain degeneration. Prusiner's work has expanded to explore prions' role in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, suggesting that these conditions may also involve prion-like mechanisms. His contributions have significantly advanced the field of neurodegenerative diseases, opening new avenues for research and therapeutic development.