Re:Prions, Nearly Indestructible and Universally Lethal, See...
by ergothus on Monday December 10, 2018 @02:43PM
(#18650608)
> fearing that fire will evolve.
Well now I have new nightmares... :)
But in seriousness, I don't know much, but I believe that protein-folding is a hugely complicated problem that still lies at the edge of our understanding, therefore I conclude that we can't really conclude that the options for a replicating, harmful prion are basically harmless.
I mean...we don't even really know how common prions are, right? We only have noticed a handful because they have dramatically bad symptoms. A large number of replicating but harmless prions could exist (right?).
Obviously there's no reason to panic, but considered caution and study seems a better reaction than overconfident dismissal.
Well now I have new nightmares... :)
But in seriousness, I don't know much, but I believe that protein-folding is a hugely complicated problem that still lies at the edge of our understanding, therefore I conclude that we can't really conclude that the options for a replicating, harmful prion are basically harmless.
I mean...we don't even really know how common prions are, right? We only have noticed a handful because they have dramatically bad symptoms. A large number of replicating but harmless prions could exist (right?).
Obviously there's no reason to panic, but considered caution and study seems a better reaction than overconfident dismissal.