Prions: disease propagation and disease therapy by conformational transmission

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies - also known as prion-related dis eases - are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders associated with th e misfolding of prion protein. Several unprecedented scientific findings, w hich have directly confronted popular dogmas in biology, have put prion res earch in the spotlight. The experimental evidence supports an entirely nove l disease mechanism, involving disease transmission by replication of prote in conformation. Here, we describe exciting scientific findings th at make the prion field attractively heretical, and we propose the transmission of protein conformation as a novel approach to producing drugs to combat a var iety of diseases.