Prion (Noun)
Meaning
(microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made).
Examples
- Researchers discovered a novel prion strain responsible for causing bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle.
- The aberrant prion was transmitted from infected minks to a recipient species with minimal resistance to infection.
- As prion disease research advanced, it became clear that genetic factors contributed to individual susceptibility.
- Despite sharing characteristics with viruses, prions defy typical notions of pathogen behavior by spreading through contaminated soil.
- Mutant prions catalyzed misfolded proteins that damaged neural tissues irreparably, explaining observed progression in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease cases.