Re: mad cow/now basic question

One writer on the subject suggested that Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is a good
way of understanding how the malformed protein gets reproduced in the
brain. 

Bonnie Zone 6+ ETN
holmesbm@usit.net



> [Original Message]
> From: cathy carpenter <cathyc@rnet.com>
> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
> Date: 05/27/2003 7:46:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] mad cow/now basic question
>
> Prions are proteins. They are not "alive" like disease producing  
> organisms such as bacteria or even viruses. Essentially they are a  
> malformed version of a normal protein that occurs in our bodies and is  
> found on nerve cells. This malformed protein takes the place of the  
> normal one, and in some way causes more abnormal prions to be formed  
> the increasing presence of these proteins eventually causes the  
> dementia characteristic of "mad cow disease" and the other spongeoform  
> encephalopathies. At least that is my limited understanding of the  
> situation.
> Cathy
> On Tuesday, May 27, 2003, at 04:32 PM, Island Jim wrote:
>
> > hi, cathy. most of my relatives don't have brains so i figure i'm safe  
> > on that score. but what are prions?
> >
> >
> > At 07:32 AM 5/27/03 -0500, you wrote:
> >> The disease was originally identified in New Guinea natives who ate  
> >> the brains of their relatives, thus acquiring the infection. I  
> >> suspect that the biggest if not only risk is to those who ingest the  
> >> prions orally. Wash hands well after applying bone meal should be all  
> >> that is required, but there are exceptions to everything, and some  
> >> folks may be more susceptible than others.
> >> Cathy
> >> On Sunday, May 25, 2003, at 12:56 AM, Theresa- yahoo wrote:
> >>
> >>> There is a risk of humans who consume infected beef products to get
> >>> Creuzfeld-Jacob disease- as least that is my understanding.  nasty
> >>> neurological disorder.  I'm thinking that I probably shouldn't be  
> >>> inhaling
> >>> fertilizer dust anyway regardless of what is in it- a dust mask  
> >>> might not be
> >>> a bad idea.
> >>>
> >>> Theresa
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net]On
> >>> Behalf Of Island Jim
> >>> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 5:42 PM
> >>> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> >>> Subject: Re: [CHAT] mad cow/now basic question
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> mad cow disease is yet another one of those threats to modern  
> >>> civilization
> >>> that i have neglected to pay a lot of attention to. i have foolishly
> >>> assumed all this time that all it did was decimate the inhumane and  
> >>> crowded
> >>> feed lots of the beef producers and the herds of overly subsidized  
> >>> dairy
> >>> farmers. for some reason i missed the part about the demonstrated  
> >>> health
> >>> risk [key words] to humans. what is it, please?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> At 07:26 PM 5/24/03 -0400, you wrote:
> >>>> Ray & Nora Edwards wrote:
> >>>>>     Actually it was felt that a man who used bone meal  for many  
> >>>>> years
> >>> did
> >>>>> possibly contract the disease that way. No concrete evidence just
> >>> anecdotal.
> >>>>> To my knowledge no tests have been done ,at least not in the  
> >>>>> states. As
> >>> for
> >>>>> heat ,  that will not reduce the risk. Its a prion not a bacterial
> >>> organism.
> >>>>> Nora
> >>>> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >>>> Well but, a prion is a protein, is it not ? and heat sufficient
> >>>> to carmelize a steak would be sufficient to make toast of
> >>>> a prion, no ?
> >>>> -jrf
> >>>> --
> >>>> Jim Fisher
> >>>> Vienna, Virginia USA
> >>>> 38.9 N 77.2 W
> >>>> USDA Zone 7
> >>>> Max. 105 F [40 C], Min. 5 F [-15 C]
> >>>>
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