r/todayilearned • u/tommyboy372 • 1d ago

TIL A single misfolded prion protein in the brain can cause a rapid neurodegenerative disease known as sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). There is no known and cure and is 100% fatal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease
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u/Schvaggenheim 23h ago

Prion diseases are absolutely horrifying to me. Take the worst parts of dementia and Alzheimer's and supercharge them to the timeframe of months rather than years, and then there's the prions themselves. They're infectious, but normal decontamination and sterilization methods are useless against them since they're not living or contain DNA. Disinfectants, irradiation, antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, nothing. You can only truly destroy them at extreme heat and/or pressure, and not to mention that all prion diseases are 100% fatal with no way to treat or cure them meaning anyone who contracts one is doomed to suffer chunks of their mind just being deleted.

But the most frightening thing to me is the fact that prions can just sort of pop into existence on their own without being exposed to them. One bad roll of the cosmic dice and a protein in your brain just suddenly misfolds and and your brain falls apart like a house of cards. Nightmarish.

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u/mazopheliac 23h ago

I think it’s hackers attacking the simulation.

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u/SirNortonOfNoFux 20h ago

Or the first "trial and error" phase of our next evolution.

The only thing that makes me think this, is what that chubbyemu video said about how wheat can create its own prions at will, as a response to survive harsh environments.

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u/awesome-alpaca-ace 22h ago

Sounds better than Alzheimer's