Mice, except risk of madness

2007/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia
• Osasuna

At New York University they have found a way to combat prion disease, known as mad cow disease. At the moment it has been tested with the mouse. The bacteria responsible for salmonellosis were genetically modified and formed prion producing bacteria. These bacteria fed mice with infected food, which produced antibodies against prions. A month later they gave them food with prions and saw that the antibodies created earlier attacked the new prions and that the mice had not developed diseases. Antibodies prevented prions from moving from the digestive tract to blood circulation. It can be said that they have created a vaccine for the mouse against this disease.