Resumen de When prions are 'good for the brain'
Prion proteins that play a key role in diseases such as BSE in cattle and vCJD in humans might have a benign alter ego. In their normal form, they may help the development of a healthy nervous system. Now, Andrew Steele at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge MA and Jason Emsley at Massachusetts General Hospital have found that prions act as a type of molecular "gas pedal" for the rudimentary stem cells that turn into the different types of neurons in the brain.
