Infectious proteins that cause brain-wasting conditions like mad cow disease appear to build up in the brain long before initiating the cascade of deterioration that leads to dementia and death, a new study of mice finds.
The findings suggest that other factors besides the misshapen infectious proteins characteristic of prion diseases may control the lethality of the disease.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.