What are prions?

Prions are indeed infectious proteins that cause neurodegenerative diseases. They are a unique class of infectious agents that differ from traditional pathogens like bacteria and viruses because they lack nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). Instead, prions are misfolded forms of normal proteins that become pathogenic when they induce abnormal folding in normal brain proteins. This misfolding leads to aggregation and damage to neural tissue, resulting in diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease).

The role of prions in disease is particularly notable because they can transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein, propagating their damaging effects throughout the host's nervous system. This mechanism underscores the challenges associated with prion diseases, as they can remain stable and infectious for long periods, making them difficult to control and treat.