SCIENTISTS in Germany have developed a test that can detect a single clump of
prions, the deformed proteins thought to cause the fatal brain condition
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Currently, a diagnosis of CJD can only be
confirmed after death. The new technique might permit earlier diagnosis of
CJD—and maybe Alzheimer’s disease.
Prions form clumps in the body, one way in which they are believed to damage
the brain. Hans Kretzschmar and colleagues at the University of Göttingen
attached antibodies that seek out the deformed prion to molecules that fluoresce
red or green when illuminated with lasers. Clumps…
