Stanley Prusiner's research

Stanley Prusiner’s research focused on understanding infectious proteins called prions, which cause certain diseases by causing normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. Unlike viruses or bacteria, prions lack genetic material yet can replicate and spread, leading to neurological conditions such as mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Prusiner’s groundbreaking work identified prions as a new type of infectious agent and revealed that misfolded proteins can be pathogenic. This discovery has expanded our understanding of disease mechanisms, highlighting how protein misfolding can directly cause serious neurodegenerative disorders.