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.

Lipid helps cell wall protein fold into proper shape

A protein that provides a vital passage through a bacterium's outer cell wall will misfold and malfunction if that wall is built of the 'wrong' material, scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston report in a finding that has long-term implications for understanding diseases caused by misfolded proteins such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease, and mad cow disease.

17 Jul 2005

Outer lining of the umbilical cord is a rich source of stem cells

CellResearch Corporation in Singapore and its team of scientists, headed by Chief Scientist, Dr Phan Toan Thang, have recently made a revolutionary discovery: that the outer lining of the umbilical cord is a rich source of stem cells.

12 Jul 2005

Steak back on the menu after mad cow disease tests prove negative

Beef and steak lovers in the U.S. can relax and throw a few more steaks on the barbie, now that tests on over 60 cows culled from the same herd of an animal which was found to be infected with mad cow disease, have tested negative.

11 Jul 2005

While USDA confirms second mad cow case officials defend safeguards

Consumer groups in the U.S. are demanding more comprehensive testing of beef after the government yesterday confirmed the second case of mad cow disease.

26 Jun 2005

U.S. agriculture officials anxiously await mad cow results

After a series of conflicting test results in the U.S., last week a sample of brain matter from a cow suspected of having been infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, was delivered to a British government-run veterinary laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey.

20 Jun 2005

Pandemics such as Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza demands a more holistic approach to disease control

The threat of potential pandemics such as Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza demands a more holistic approach to disease control, one that prevents diseases from crossing the divide between humans, their livestock, and wildlife, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in the most recent issue of the journal Foreign Affairs.

16 Jun 2005

USDA still not coming clean on reasons for new mad cow tests

The U.S. Agriculture Department's inspector general is still not coming clean on why new tests were ordered unexpectedly on brain tissue from a cow declared free of mad cow disease seven months ago.

16 Jun 2005

Reasons for delay in re-testing for mad cow disease still causes concern

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), it now appears that the animal suspected of having mad cow disease was born before the implementation of the 1997 feed ban that prohibits cattle remains in animal feed.

14 Jun 2005

Second possible case of mad cow in the U.S.

A second possible case of mad cow disease is making cattle producers in the United States fear for their livelihood as it could mean that U.S. beef could be again shunned by other countries.

13 Jun 2005

Mad cow disease found in animal in the U.S.

In disturbing news this week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said a U.S. animal has tested positive for mad cow disease.

12 Jun 2005

Research opens up new directions for studying prion diseases in humans

The mysterious, highly infectious prions, which cause the severe destruction of the brain that characterizes "mad cow disease" and several human brain degenerative disorders, can be rendered harmless in the laboratory by a slight alternation of the three-dimensional conformation or shape of the prion protein's structure.

9 Jun 2005

Fundamental insights in how amyloid fibers form

Amyloid fibers are best known as the plaque that gunks up neurons in people with neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease--the human analog of mad cow disease.

9 Jun 2005

Discovery of molecular mechanism that seems to play an important role in Alzheimer's disease

An international team of chemists and molecular biologists has discovered a fundamental molecular mechanism that seems to play an important role in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, mad cow disease and two-dozen other degenerative and fatal diseases.

8 Jun 2005

Novel insights into how prion and other neurodegenerative diseases develop

Abnormal prion proteins are little understood disease agents involved in causing horrific brain-wasting diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in people, mad cow disease in cattle and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk.

3 Jun 2005

Genesis Bioventures signs agreement for control of Mad Cow diagnostic company

Further to a Letter of Intent previously reported, Genesis Bioventures today announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Efoora Inc. and Prion Developmental Laboratories, Inc. to buy all of Efoora's majority interest shares owned or pledged in PDL thereby gaining controlling interest of PDL. A Form 8-K has been filed with the SEC in this regard. Prior to the Agreement, GBI had one-third equity interest in PDL.

1 Jun 2005

1980's brain surgery may have exposed 50 patients to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

It has now been revealed that as many as 50 patients may have been exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) following brain surgery during the 1980s.

31 May 2005

Scientists watch agents of brain-wasting diseases invade and move within brain cells

Scientists for the first time have watched agents of brain-wasting diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), as they invade a nerve cell and then travel along wire-like circuits to points of contact with other cells.

25 May 2005

Faulty folding of protein in the environment may cause disease

Serious diseases like Alzheimer's and type-2 diabetes have been shown to be related to unhealthy protein chains that occur when proteins fold incorrectly. In an article in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, PNAS, a research team directed from Uppsala University shows that similar protein chains in our environment may hasten the process.

4 May 2005

Study sheds light on why normal prion proteins may experience age-related mutations in inherited diseases

A new study sheds light on why normal prion proteins may experience age-related mutations in inherited diseases. Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine studied a previously discovered mutation in the prion protein in members of an extended family in Indiana who inherited the prion disease Gerstmann-Straussler-Sheinker (GSS).

25 Apr 2005

First confirmed case of Mad Cow disease in Holland

The first known case of the human form of "mad cow disease" - known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), has been diagnosed in the Netherlands.

22 Apr 2005