快猫短视频

A BLOOD test for BSE may be within reach. 快猫短视频s in Scotland have found a
marker for the disease that is detectable in blood cells or bone marrow well
before any symptoms appear.

Using such a test to screen animals entering the food chain would ensure meat
comes from BSE-free cattle. A test for the human disease, vCJD, is also needed
to screen donated blood.

Diseases such as scrapie and BSE are caused by abnormal prion proteins. As
these are chemically identical to their healthy counterparts, it鈥檚 hard to find
tests to tell the two apart. Researchers have found differences in the genes
switched on in the brains of infected animals, but these are detectable only in
the final stages of the disease.

Michael Clinton and his colleagues from the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh
knew that prions multiply in organs such as the spleen and tonsils long before
they reach the brain. So they compared the activity of over 10,000 genes from
the spleens of mice with and without scrapie. The profiles were almost
identical, except for one gene, which was turned down in scrapie-infected
mice.

The gene, which makes a protein called erythroid differentiation-related
factor (EDRF), showed the same pattern in sheep and cows. Although the function
of EDRF is not yet known, Clinton feels its detection will help scientists
understand BSE.

The finding could lead to a simple test for BSE, scrapie and vCJD. 鈥淚鈥檓
pretty confident this difference will be found in humans,鈥� says Clinton.