The mystery of how spongiform encephalopathies are transmitted and wreak damage in the brain remains, and is a matter of great public worry — particularly as far as the bovine form (BSE) is concerned. At the moment the ‘protein only’ (prion) hypothesis is gathering favour, and two new in vitro studies add further support to it. One is an assay of the conversion of purified prion protein to its abnormal, pathological form. The other is an investigation of a similar phenomenon in yeast.
- Colin L. Masters
- Konrad Beyreuther
