Skip to main content
Scientific American

October 1, 1984

1 min read

Prions

These agents of infectious disease present a biological conundrum: Prions contain protein and reproduce in the living cell, yet no DNA or RNA has been found in them. What is the nature of their genome?

By Stanley B. Prusiner

00

STANLEY B. PRUSINER is professor of neurology and biochemistry at the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has won many awards for his research into prions, most recently the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the Paul Ehrlich Award. This is his second article for Scientific American.

More by Stanley B. Prusiner
Scientific American Magazine Vol 251 Issue 4This article was originally published with the title “Prions” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 251 No. 4 (), p. 50
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1084-50
View This Issue