Prions Found in Plants

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Not so much genetoc changes.

It pretty established that ill health can mess with brain chemistry and imduce changes.

Happend to me when i had phemonia.

reply to post by TDawgRex

Prions used to worry me until I ...found that they are pretty everywhere. ...Rolling the dice every-time I eat and it just isn't prions.

My interest in prions has to do with their role in the evolutionary process - and the impact of human activities in creating prions. A food for thought kind of thing.

reply to post by Iamschist

I happen to believe that autism is an evolutionary adaptation. Could prions be the cause of autism?

They may play a role - seems autism is epigenetic so it fits. Be interesting to see where it might lead. If we let it.

There is a kind of symmetry in the idea that the 'building blocks' of life, might also be the 'agents' of death.

Isn't there?! : up:

Have to say it though - life is the real agent of death.

reply to post by crazyewok

It pretty established that ill health can mess with brain chemistry and imduce changes.

Uh huh. And any idea exactly what mechanism might be responsible for those brain chemistry changes?

Nonpsychoactive Cannabidiol Prevents Prion Accumulation and Protects Neurons against Prion Toxicity

m.jneurosci.org...

No worries, it'll be well stocked after the shift.

Animals sent to slaughter that are too sick to stand are killed and used for dog-food or sent to fertilizer plant.
Whatever it is that causes protein mal-rotation and prion formation gets recirculated.

I am a bit surprised that plants contain prion protein. I had thought that herbivores had picked up the prion from the soil or from salt licks contaminated by body fluids of other animals.

Suspect there may be many prion proteins that do not cause disease---and probably several diseases that are prion related that we haven't even thought about yet

Sheep scrapie has been around for centuries at least. First described in literature in early 1700s.


Good post/info/thread.

soficrow
reply to post by crazyewok

 

It pretty established that ill health can mess with brain chemistry and imduce changes.

Uh huh. And any idea exactly what mechanism might be responsible for those brain chemistry changes?

Basiacly either the toxins of the pathogen, drugs used to treat and even the chems released in ones immune response can disrupt neurorecepters like 5HT(Seratonin) and dopamine glutamate . This can be either through allowing to oo much to be released or not enough or blocking/Activating too many recepters were they join. If this carrys on too long then your brain can make those changes permament

Normaly it can end up in depression or anexity issues. But the reverse can happen.

reply to post by crazyewok

RE:

...toxins ..., drugs... and ...chems

You have listed the initiating factors aka epigenetic triggers - but NOT the molecular mechanism. To rephrase - how do the toxins, drugs and chemicals work? What do they do? What molecules do they affect and how do they affect them?

soficrow
reply to post by crazyewok

 

RE:

...toxins ..., drugs... and ...chems

You have listed the initiating factors aka epigenetic triggers - but NOT the molecular mechanism. To rephrase - how do the toxins, drugs and chemicals work? What do they do? What molecules do they affect and how do they affect them?

The molecules they affect are the recepter molecules in the brain. They can increase or decrease recepter sensitivity or trigger more to be created or removed. I will see if I can find some old Neuro chemistry notes from back in Uni later.

reply to post by Tusks

Animals sent to slaughter that are too sick to stand are killed and used for dog-food or sent to fertilizer plant.
Whatever it is that causes protein mal-rotation and prion formation gets recirculated. ...I am a bit surprised that plants contain prion protein.

Our world is truly and amazingly interconnected. Prions are just "mis-folded" proteins - and "mis-folding" is a common response to environmental change - it's an adaptive mechanism that's passed along horizontally to all lifeforms on our planet. ...Prions can 'infect' similar proteins on contact, spread, adapt, evolve and create new strains both in the environment and inside their 'hosts.'

On the surface, and thinking of prions exclusively as "disease agents," the situation is frightening. But remember - Fear is a mind-killer. The goal is to get past the emotional response and appreciate the phenomenally complex interconnectedness of our amazing world. The upside is that the process of prions moving through water, soil, plants and animals ensures that all life on our planet is adapted to whatever environmental changes might come along.

On the downside, even minor "tinkering" can have hugely far-reaching biological consequences. For example, dosing food animals daily with human antibiotics and anti-virals, and routinely vaccinating flocks and herds actually creates prions - and eventually, super-bugs and super-flus.

As with everything, it's a good idea to learn how things work and think about the potential consequences of any action.

It's time we stop ignoring and/or pussy-footing around about this subject! Our government and the Elitist Illuminati who control our President, want 6.5 Billion people dead from this planet. That means, that these deadly prions are PURPOSELY MEANT to harm and kill us. Somebody PLEASE wake the **** up!!!

This individual here thinks this is just the natural order of things??? WOW!!! REALLY???

Please find and read Operation Garden Plot, amongst many other vile plottings that these monsters wish to do away with us "useless eaters" with...

They're not playing. They mean to destroy us with "irresistible force" - please just do not take the mark, as it institutes a genetic change within the human genome - this is what angers our Creator God - and why He will reject those from entering into Heaven, because they chose to worship the beast and his image and take the mark, making them no longer human.

Lord have mercy on us all!!!

reply to post by maceov

This individual here thinks this is just the natural order of things??? WOW!!! REALLY???

If you mean that's what I think, you're wrong. I do think prions are a natural evolutionary mechanism - which have been used, abused and manipulated so that the 'natural' situation is way out of control. To our very great detriment.


PS> I also think we are better off trusting our evolutionary process and NOT trying to "fix" peoples' genes to make them "normal." So-called "normal" is NOT adapted to our changed environment - and many adaptations that look like failures might have beneficial components. Needless to say, we also should not start euthanizing all the "useless eaters" either.

So - 1 in 2,000 people in the UK carry the prion for Mad Cow Disease... Mad cow disease: One in 2,000 in UK carry protein

...and a great little article on CWD in the US.

Patrick Durkin: CWD puzzle only getting harder to put together

Consider the stakes: If state and federal agencies think it prudent to tell hunters to destroy prion-contaminated venison, will they soon warn everyone about prion-tainted plants? For that matter, will they stop farmers from buying, selling and transporting hay bales out of our CWD zone? …

And what about backyard gardens, morel mushrooms, wild raspberries and feed-grains growing in that ever-expanding CWD zone? Should we assume they’re prion-free? And if Great Britain and other countries won’t import U.S. animal feeds containing CWD-exposed meat byproducts, will they next ban plant-based feeds?

Granted, it’s silly to suggest raiding farmers markets and roadside stands that sell foods grown in CWD areas. We simply don’t know enough to risk another CWD panic.

But this much is certain: As we’ve slowly assembled the CWD puzzle piece by piece since 2002, the picture has only grown uglier. Meanwhile, lawmakers worked harder to stop research for more puzzle pieces than they did to control our deer herd, CWD’s undisputed chief carrier.

Their negligence might doom them yet.

Very interesting subject. I remember when misfolded proteins were considered no threat. They said that the body does not digest these proteins. Yeah right, they just say that so they can make our food grow faster and bigger so big business can make more profits. Also adjusting the protein folding makes food last longer since microbial critters won't eat them as much. Shows who has more brains, the bacteria and fungus know when food is not good to eat.

You do know that prion disease was invented to cover up the fallout from chernobyl? The cjd in the pacific was caused by the fallout from pacific atom bomb tests?
Well thats my theory.
Strontium. No beef on the bone!

reply to post by symptomoftheuniverse


It's absolutely true that radiation exposure causes proteins to misfold, which may result in (infectious) prions. It's also true that exposure to chemicals, temperature changes, and a variety of other environmental perturbations can cause proteins to misfold and create prions. Hence my admonition to consider the consequences of our actions.



PS. There is no single boogie-man. The world is as full of dangers as it is of wonders.

reply to post by soficrow


The truth is it scares me. The bbc reported today that twice as many people in the uk who have been infected than first thought. They are saying 1 in 2000.

reply to post by symptomoftheuniverse

The truth is it scares me. The bbc reported today that twice as many people in the uk who have been infected than first thought. They are saying 1 in 2000.

Fear is a mind-killer. Take a deep breath and consider some of the ideas I've put forth above and elsewhere. And yes, I know British authorities are reporting 1 in 2000 (posted it above, with link). I also have absolutely no doubt that I have prions in my own body - I grew up on a farm with cattle and a large deer population, plus my allergy to penicillin resulted in a disease that's obviously prion-related (fibromuscular dysplasia). I know there are prions in meat, plants, air, water and soil - and I've known it for a while. But I still eat meat and veggies, breathe, drink water and grow a garden. I draw the line at using barrelled rainwater though. I also know prions use our immune systems to travel through our bodies so I try to stay healthy and treat my body with respect - but I don't curl up and hide from life.

Life is a dangerous affair and always fatal. My interest in prions comes from a kind of awe at how completely, absolutely and wonderfully connected everything on this planet is. I just want to know more about that. Oh yeah, and also I want to kick a bit of the irresponsible, short-sighted, profiteering, self-aggrandizing, self-seeking butt that's causing so many problems.

More prion news.

CSU Conference Highlights Mysteries of Prion Diseases and Ties to Human Neurological Disorders

What does chronic wasting disease [CWD] – a killer neurological disease in deer, elk, and moose – have in common with human brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease?

The diseases are caused by protein misfolding that starts a degenerative chain reaction in the nervous system, ultimately leading to death. ...

Prusiner, a neurologist and biochemist, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1997 for prion research. He is credited with first proposing that misfolded proteins with infectious properties cause the family of degenerative neurological diseases now known as prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. …

…CWD has spread from its epicenter in northern Colorado to at least 20 other states, two Canadian provinces, and South Korea, scientific surveillance has found.

“This is an emerging epidemic,” Telling said. “CWD is the only recognized prion disease in wild animals, which means it’s very difficult to control, and it’s extremely contagious. It’s important that we understand prion diseases so we can better assess risk to public health.”

Researchers estimate 1 in 2,000 people in the UK carry variant CJD proteins

The survey provides the most robust prevalence measure to date - and identifies abnormal prion protein across a wider age group than found previously and in all genotypes.

An accompanying editorial says that although the disease remains rare, "infection" may be relatively common and doctors need to understand the public health measures that are in place to protect patients.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a degenerative brain disease – often called the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease." It emerged after widespread exposure to BSE prions in the late 1980s and early 1990s through contaminated meat products in the food chain.

30,000 may carry human form of mad cow

...the peak of the human form of mad cow disease occurred in 2000. This suggests there is an 8-year incubation period for the disease. However, his research has revealed that there are at least three different forms of the prion protein linked to vCJD, which might explain why more people haven't become sick with the disease - yet.

"These people may harbor that [vCJD] for a longer time; they may develop a different type of prion disease; they may be silent carriers," says Brandner.

He says there's one definite concern: that these silent carriers may be potentially transmitting the disease.

Unlikely I know but if you've read this far you need to know that the official understanding of 'silent carriers' ability to transmit prion disease is via organ or blood donations, contaminated surgical instruments and the like. I'd much like to discuss this aspect but it's best done in way above I suspect.

This is one of the best articles I've read on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and prions in the environment.

Chronic wasting disease: forgotten, but not gone

As an environmental journalist, I know full well how difficult it can be to get people interested in a creeping problem. ...

...CWD takes years to kill a single infected individual and has yet to completely decimate an entire herd. “I’ve heard it called an epidemic in slow motion,”

...prions persist for years in the environment, says Johnson. They build up, and even amplify, in soil, infecting deer, elk and moose as they graze, and may even be taken up by the plants themselves. They linger in the feces and bodily fluids of infected animals and inside their carcasses after they die. ...

...Why are people less concerned about CWD now, when it’s clear that infection rates are rising? “Cause they’re not reading about it in the newspaper every day,” says Michael Miller, senior wildlife veterinarian with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “Part of the problem, to be quite honest, is we know it’s there, we kind of have this nagging suspicion that it’s having some effect, but it’s been really hard to point to something clear. And we really don’t have a lot we can do about it.”

..."There is no place where this disease has ever occurred that it has been stopped," said Walt Cottrell, a veterinarian for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "There are two things the disease does when it arrives: It gets worse, and it spreads."

And, eventually, it fades into the background, like so many other creeping environmental problems.