Biological Classification Question 114
114. Mad cow disease in cattle is caused by an organism which has :
(a) Free DNA without protein coat
(b) Inert crystalline structure
(c) Abnormally folded protein
(d) Free RNA without protein coat
Show Answer
Answer : c
Hints & Solutions
(c) Prions are disease causing agents having abnormally folded proteins. Prions induce other healthy proteins to fold incorrectly, leaving patches of useless debris and holes that tum brains to sponge, resulting in death. The disease has an incubation period in cattle of up to eight years. Mad cow disease (or bovine spongiform encephal-opathy) is a transmissible, slowly progressive, degenerative, and fatal disease affecting the central nervous system of adult cattle. It’s related to a disease in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Both disorders are universally fatal brain diseases caused by a prion.
