Prion
WordNet
noun
(1) (microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From + .
Noun
- The etiologic agent of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. The only self-replicating cause of disease known to lack nucleic acids.
- A self-propagating alternative conformer of any protein.
- A petrel from the genus Pachyptila.
See also
- bovine spongiform encephalopathy
- cannibalism
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
- kuru
- mad cow disease
- New Variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease
- scrapie
- viroid
- virus