On the horizon: a blood test for prions.
A recent paper by Castilla et al. reported the detection of prions in the blood of scrapie-infected hamsters using a biochemical amplification method that is conceptually analogous to the polymerase chain reaction. This technological advance raises the possibility that prion diseases in humans and livestock could soon be diagnosed using blood samples if several technical limitations can be overcome.
Department of Biochemistry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. supattapone@dartmouth.edu
Surachai
S
Supattapone
James C
JC
Geoghegan
Judy R
JR
Rees
D000818:Animals; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D006224:Cricetinae; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000097:blood*
D018620:PrPSc Proteins