Scientists found spherical nanoparticles of magnetite in more than three dozen postmortem human brains. While angular magnetite particles are known to be produced by the brain, these spherical particles resemble those found in polluted air.
“This is the first report of iron oxide particles in brain tissue that may have come from an industrial source. As such, this opens up questions about potential neurotoxic effects from industrial pollutants that had not been previously considered,” University of Florida’s Jon Dobson, who researches the potential neurodegenerative role of biologically produced magnetic compounds and was not involved in the study, told The Scientist.
Researchers have determined the preliminary structure of a shortened form of infectious prion, which in its full length causes mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. According to the study, published this week (September 8) in PLOS Pathogens, the prion segment looks like a coiled mattress spring.
“For the first time, ...
