Science and Environment

Prions

Prions are extremely unusual agents of infection, now known to be proteins belonging to the host animal that have misfolded and become deadly. The mad Cow epidemic in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s killed many thousands of cattle and more than 200 humans. The only prion disease that exists in the world is right here in Alberta, Chronic Wasting Disease. It’s spreading, and no one knows how to stop it. And prions might be the fundamental process underlying other neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s.

Speaker: Jay Ingram, CM (Order of Canada Member) is a Canadian author, broadcaster and science communicator well known for his past role as the host of the television show Daily Planet, which aired for many years on the Discovery Channel.

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