prions

The three-month moratorium comes after a former prion researcher was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

A synthetic genetic tool called yTRAP allows high-throughput detection of protein aggregates in cells.
 

Infectious protein aggregates from the skin of human patients can cause disease in mice.

Clostridium botulinum produces a transcription factor that can aggregate and self-propagate a prion-like form, leading to genome-wide changes in gene expression in E. coli, according to a study.

Two studies describe methods for detecting these misfolded proteins in human blood samples.

Susan Lindquist of MIT and the Whitehead Institute broke scientific ground on prions and heat shock proteins.

Environmental magnetite in the human brain; prion structure takes shape; watching E. coli evolve in real time; learning from others’ behavior 

The preliminary structure of the misfolded protein that causes mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease looks like a coiled mattress spring.

A plant protein that behaves like a prion when inserted into yeast could enable a form of botanical memory, a study suggests.

Susan Lindquist has never shied away from letting her curiosity guide her research career.

Richard Johnson, a pioneer in research on central nervous system infections, died last month at age 84.

A study of deceased patients who received injections of cadaver-derived growth hormone hints at the possible transmissibility of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Researchers show that pathogenic protein aggregates that accumulate within neurons and are a hallmark of Huntington’s disease can propagate from cell to cell.

ASC specks—protein aggregations that drive inflammation—are released from dying immune cells, expanding the reach of a defense response.

Madness and Memory, Promoting the Planck Club, The Carnivore Way, and The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

The formation of long-term memories employs the chain-forming habits of prions.  

Plant biology: You can't make this stuff up.

Meet some of the people featured in the January 2014 issue of The Scientist.