1.   The current system for detecting infectious prion particles is not very sensitive.

2.   But a deeper reason to worry is the diabolical nature of the infectious prion particle.

3.   Experts believe that the fatal disease it is caused by aberrant proteins called infectious prions, which leave the brain with spongelike holes.

4.   For example, how does the infectious prion alter the normal prion?

5.   In animal studies, they found that the laminin receptor increased along with infectious prion proteins.

6.   Infectious prions are produced when normal prions, for unknown reasons, assume a flattened shape that prevents them from being broken down by the body.

7.   Infectious prions are able to convert healthy prions into abnormal ones, relentlessly propagating the disease.

8.   Infectious prions seemed to favor the hind legs and were found there in very high levels.

9.   Prusiner said that the infectious prion protein is just like the normal one except that it is folded into a different shape.

10.   Rendering does not destroy all the infectious prions, which also resist being broken down by enzymes when consumed.