Mad Cow Disease News and Research

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Mad Cow Disease or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unusual transmissible agent called a prion. The nature of the transmissible agent is not well understood. Currently, the most accepted theory is that the agent is a modified form of a normal protein known as prion protein. For reasons that are not yet understood, the normal prion protein changes into a pathogenic (harmful) form that then damages the central nervous system of cattle.

Possibility of wildlife-to-human crossover heightens concern about chronic wasting disease

Each fall, millions of hunters across North America make their way into forests and grasslands to kill deer. Over the winter, people chow down on the venison steaks, sausage, and burgers made from the animals.

2 Feb 2024

NPDPSC at Case Western Reserve University to receive CDC funding for better understanding of prion diseases

The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University will receive up to $20 million in funding as part of a grant renewal from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to better understand how and why prion diseases––degenerative brain conditions found in both humans and animals-;develop and spread.

20 Sep 2022

Researchers uncover the structure of protein fibrils linked to hereditary form of human prion disease

In a new study, researchers from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified the structure of protein fibrils linked to a hereditary form of human prion disease.

12 Sep 2022

Prion imaging could lead to better understanding of what causes fatal neurological disorders

Prion diseases are incurable, deadly neurological disorders that can affect both humans and animals–including Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in people, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (also known as Mad Cow Disease) and Chronic Wasting Disease found in deer.

13 Jul 2022

The emergence of infectious diseases from the "germ’s eye view”

The study highlighted that the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that human societies remain ill-prepared and susceptible to novel infectious diseases.

16 Feb 2022

Toxic fatty acids trigger cell death in damaged neurons

Cells that normally nourish healthy brain cells called neurons release toxic fatty acids after neurons are damaged, a new study in rodents shows.

6 Oct 2021

Study provides renewed hope for treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

Nanosized molecules of a particular chemical element can inhibit the formation of plaque in the brain tissues. This new discovery by researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, in collaboration with researchers in Croatia and Lithuania, provides renewed hope for novel treatments of, for instance, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease in the long run.

1 Jul 2021

First insights into human prion disease could help tackle neurodegenerative diseases

Surface features of human prions have been identified for the first time, which may provide key information into treatments of neurodegenerative diseases.

18 Jun 2021

Study finds new clues to explain how Alzheimer’s disease spreads in the brain

Case Western Reserve University researchers studying prions-;misfolded proteins that cause lethal incurable diseases-;have identified for the first time surface features of human prions responsible for their replication in the brain.

18 Jun 2021

Researchers identify structure of agent that causes Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

Alzheimer's disease - also called dementia - where memory and cognitive functions gradually decline due to deformation and death of neurons, and Parkinson's disease that causes tremors in hands and arms impeding normal movement are major neurodegenerative diseases.

26 May 2021

Simple skin test can accurately identify Parkinson's disease, research shows

New research shows a simple skin test can accurately identify Parkinson's disease, demonstrating for the first time the feasibility of the method.

21 Oct 2020

Researchers identify a protein that facilitates spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus through cells

Eric Ross and Sean Cascarina, biochemistry and molecular biology researchers at Colorado State University, have released a research paper identifying a protein encoded by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that may be associated with the quick spread of the virus through cells in the human body.

13 Aug 2020

New treatment approach for Alzheimer's disease

A new study published in The Journal of Physiology has shown that misfolded protein build-up in the gut could contribute to the development of Alzheimer's-like symptoms in mice.

3 Jul 2020

New breakthrough may help cure prion disease

A molecular biologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who has for decades studied the nightmarish group of fatal diseases caused by prions - chronic wasting disease in deer, mad cow in cattle and its human analog - credits a middle-of-the-night dream for a crucial insight, a breakthrough she hopes could lead to a cure.

6 May 2020

Tracking tau protein yields insight into possible treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

In the fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the tau protein is a major culprit.

1 Apr 2020

Researchers to examine biomarkers, economic factors that may increase risk for Alzheimer’s

An image of your retina may help Iowa State University researchers determine your risk for Alzheimer's disease even before other symptoms are detectable.

9 Jan 2020

DNA-modulated liquid droplets may explain how prion proteins clump

Researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, have identified that the interaction between prion proteins and DNA may be behind the formation of protein amyloid aggregates and of the emergence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other spongiform encephalopathies.

22 Nov 2019

Game-changing diagnostic test for prion diseases

Researchers have developed an effective way of testing for prion diseases, a group of fatal neurodegenerative illnesses caused by abnormally folded proteins.

8 Nov 2019

New NIH grant to support innovative skin testing approach for diagnosing Parkinson's disease

Wenquan Zou, MD, PhD, an expert in degenerative neurological diseases, along with his collaborators Shu G. Chen, PhD also from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Jiyan Ma, MD, PhD, from Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Thomas Beach, MD, PhD, from Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, Arizona, have received a five-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD) via an innovative skin testing approach.

4 Oct 2019

Scientist wins two-year grant for diagnosis of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's via innovative skin test

Wenquan Zou, MD, PhD, an expert in prion and degenerative neurological diseases, has received a two-year grant for developing diagnostic tools for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other related brain-based degenerative disorders via an innovative skin test that uses ultrasensitive technology.

2 Aug 2019