Review. Kuru and its contribution to medicine.
The solution of kuru led us to the solution of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and to the elucidation, in humans and other species, of previously unknown mechanisms of infection. These require very close three-dimensional matching, which determines infectious nucleant or prion activity. Evidence for nucleation processes is found widely in the organic and inorganic worlds and in the interactions between them: in the formation of amyloid fibrils; in the biochemistry of silicon; in cave formations deep in the Earth; and in outer space. Kuru in its location in Papua New Guinea has also led to an understanding of the cultural achievements of the Palaeo-Melanesians, with deep roots in human history.
Institut Neurologique Alfred Fessard, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
D Carleton
DC
Gajdusek
D005006:Ethnicity / Q000208:ethnology*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007729:Kuru / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000266:history*; D010219:Papua New Guinea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012106:Research / Q000266:history*