New models advance the study of deadly human prion diseases
Monday, August 19, 2013 - 19:30
in Biology & Nature
By directly altering the gene coding for the prion protein (PrP), researchers have created mouse models of two neurodegenerative prion diseases, each of which manifests in different regions of the brain. These new models for fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) accurately reflect the distinct patterns of destruction caused by the these diseases in humans.