A recent case report has stoked fears that deer can transmit universally fatal prions to humans. Outside experts remain skeptical. Reading time 5 minutes Earlier this year, a team of scientists ...

A new study from scientists at VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease and elsewhere reveals the role of an RNA binding protein called Fused in Sarcoma (FUS) in the development of frontotemporal ...

Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions can sometimes feature damaging clumps of tau proteins that have become deformed. Scientists have now synthesized these misshapen entities in ...

Wildlife officials in the U.S. and Canada report cases of chronic wasting diseases where it hasn't been detected before.

Chronic wasting disease has been spreading among deer in the United States, which has raised concerns that the fatal neurological illness might make the leap to people. But a recent study suggests ...

Between COVID, HIV, Dengue, Ebola, and emerging flu variants, the last thing the world needs is another type of pathogen, let alone with no treatment or cure. But, although rare, prion diseases, such ...

Sonia Vallabh always thought genome editing wouldn’t be an option. It was such an obvious solution that people invariably asked, “What about CRISPR?” at the end of talks. But the details never made ...

A mysterious neurological disease was killing women and children in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Patients in the final stages experienced uncontrollable outbursts of laughter, earning ...

Recent research led by the University of Alberta challenges the belief that mad cow disease is caused only by misfolded proteins—a discovery that sheds new light on the devastating outbreak in the ...

A study from Bochum describes a mammal-specific domain of the prion protein and offers new approaches for research into neurodegenerative diseases. At first, they cause memory deficits and ...

The world is a dangerous place, and for humans, some of the most dangerous things are so small that you can’t see them. Millions of people die from tiny things like viruses, bacteria, and fungi each ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Chronic wasting disease might just be the most terrifying ...