Fatal flaws
Subtitle: how a misfolded protein baffled scientists and changed the way we look at the brain
By: Jay Ingram
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Toronto, Ont
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9781443412124
Subjects: Prions; Prion diseases; Prion Diseases; Prions (Virologie); Maladies à prions; Prionkrankheit; Prion
Description: Most people have never heard of prions. Indeed, most are only barely aware of the diseases caused by them, except, perhaps, for mad cow disease. Yet prions are the stuff of a revolutionary science'a science that might lead to cures for some of humankind's most devastating diseases. Fatal Flawsis a scientific detective story about this elusive protein, starting with the discovery of kuru, a disease unique to New Guinea in the 1950s that baffled scientists and carried with it whispers of cannibalism. Kuru began a scientific stampede to seek out the agent of this mysterious disease'the prion'a misfolded protein whose existence some of the world's top scientists still find difficult to accept. Today, the subject of prions remains controversial, yet the proteins might promise new treatments for some of the most intractable brain diseases, ones that affect millions around the planet, including Parkinson's, ALS and Alzheimer's. In Fatal Flaws, Jay Ingram unties a complicated interweaving of biology, medicine, human tragedy, surprise and disbelief in the world of prions, and he unravels some of history's most stunning revelations about disease, the brain and infection.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-239) and index.
Table of contents: title: Mystery of kuru; title: Barflies and flatworms; title: Cannibalism; title: Igor and Bill; title: Life of a cell; title: Death of a cell; title: When is a virus not a virus?; title: Creutzfeld-Jakob disease; title: Magnificent molecules; title: Protein origami; title: Stanley Prusiner's heresy; title: Infectious idea; title: Portrait of the prion; title: Mad cow disease; title: Mad cow in humans; title: Americas; title: Into the wild; title: Origins; title: Cats but not dogs; title: Alzheimer's disease; title: Parkinson's disease; title: Lou Gehrig's disease; title: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy; title: In the end ...