An utterly (udderly?) sad irony with regard to mad cow disease. It was finally documented for certain how the disease gets from cows (beef) to humans. Basically, there is a cow "prion" (unlike all other components of the meat) that is able to move through the human body. Before this, there was strong speculation, but no direct documentation. Why is this important now?
Well...for some time, it has been known how the prion gets its start in the cows body, based on the cows genetic structure. Well -- guess what -- since the production of the prion is also understood, it is possible to >>>genetically modify<<< cows, which would eradicate the deadly prions, and thus the disease could never affect cows or humans!
...so, because of this news today, we know for sure mad cow comes from the cows...this paves the way for fixing the UK cows and making mad cow a thing of the past.
BUT, how ironic (and sad) that groups in the UK have spread false information about genetic modification, since now it appears "GM" holds the solution to the mad cow disease!
(from today's news)
3/29 Study Shows How Mad Cow Disease Gets To Brain
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers said Monday they had documented how the agent that causes mad cow disease gets from food into the brain. It travels from the digestive tract into the lymphatic system and from there into the brain, they reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. |
