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Mad Cow, Chronic Wasting, and Other Prion Diseases
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"Recommended for most science collections."
--Library Journal
For this and other reviews,
click here
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THE PATHOLOGICAL PROTEIN
Mad Cow, Chronic Wasting, and Other
Deadly Prion Diseases
by Philip Yam
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Hardcover, 304 pages plus photos and illustrations. ISBN 0-387-95508-9
June 2003
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Possible Second Case of Mad Cow Disease Discovered in the U.S.
(updated 6/11/2005)
For information and commentary,
click here.
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Prion proteins exist in all mammals and are especially abundant in the brain, where they seem to help neurons function. But they become deadly when they fold up a certain way. These malformed prion proteins then go on to convert normal proteins, giving them the same deadly abilities. Prions are at the root of several fatal neurodegenerative conditions, some of which have spread in epidemic proportions thanks to certain practices--namely, cannibalism. The feeding of dead cows to farm cows created the epidemic of mad cow disease. The cannibalistic practices of the Fore tribe in New Guinea, in which dead relatives were consumed, spread kuru among the society in proportions far exceeding the AIDS crisis at its worst in the U.S.
Review from the
Economist:"Scientists still have more questions than answers about BSE, vCJD and the related scourges which make up the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Philip Yam's book, 'The Pathological Protein', does an admirable job of exploring them.... 'The Pathological Protein' is full of... sensible observations, a welcome novelty in discussions on this fraught topic. The author is particularly good at explaining the complex and controversial science behind TSEs, as well as the prospects for better diagnosis and treatment—no surprise given his long experience as a writer and editor for Scientific American. But his descriptions of the weird world of prion diseases—whether it is in the Italian family cursed with deadly insomnia or the cooking practices of New Guinean cannibals laid low by kuru, another TSE—are equally graphic.
At the end of the day, no country can consider itself immune to mad-cow disease, and the book has a few suggestions of tougher controls for American regulators to consider. Prion diseases are not just bad luck, concludes Mr Yam, but a warning that 'something is out of balance, that the excessive unnaturalness we force on livestock could be catching up with us.'"
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Feedback or comments,
click here. Web site contents copyright (c) 2003 by Philip Yam.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Philip Yam traveled around the U.S. and Europe to interview dozens of the field's top researchers and families of patients who succumbed to the sickness. Since 1989, he has been writing and editing at
Scientific American,the magazine of science and technology for the lay reader. He is currently the magazine's News Editor and lives in New York City.
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