The Power of Prions: The Strange and Essential Proteins That Can Cause Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Other Diseases

The remarkable family of proteins that can make us very ill—but can also be linked to long-term memory, immunity, and the origin of life

Over the last decade, scientists have discovered the importance and widespread presence in the body of a remarkable family of proteins known as prion proteins. Research links various types of prion proteins to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s—and this has fueled the search for new drugs that could halt the progression of these ...