Disease Caused By Prions

We are doing this for non scientific audience.

– Proteins are polymers which are large organic compounds made of amino acids.

The amino acids sequence in a protein is determined by the sequence of the bases in the gene that encodes that protein.

An example of a protein is a prion.

Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit its misfolded shape onto normal proteins.

Proteins that do not fold properly cannot function the way they should.

Many diseases are caused by loss of a cellular function due to improperly folded protein.

Prions cause many diseases and one of them is Kuru disease.

Kuru is a very rare and fatal disease that occur in the nervous system.

It is caused by prions (give more background info) and cite them.

What could happen if you eat contaminated human brain?

To address this question, we have to understand Kuru disease. Moreover, we have to know what might happen in the cellular level after one human eats another human’s brain.