National Institutes of Health other research news

Researchers at the NIH and the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, Calif.) may have found a key to developing a diagnostic for C-J disease and related animal spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease).

The scientists published the ability of a marker to detect spongiform encephalopathies. Such a test would make it possible to diagnose the disease prior to death, which may be especially useful in determining if animal herds are infected and obviate the need to destroy entire herds. Diagnosis is currently done via post-mortem brain biopsies. However, a limitation of the diagnostic is that it is only useful once symptoms of dementia appear. ...