ABSTRACT
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow disease,” is a neurological degenerative, incurable, and fatal disease. Always associated with this disease is the presence of an abnormal prion protein known as pro tease resistant proteinScrapie (PrPsc) in central nervous tissue (CNS) of the animal. BSE has been linked to an abhorrent disease of humans known as new-variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (nvCJD). The detection and identification of the etiological agent associated with BSE have led to the continuing investigation of one of the most fascinating molecular structures that science has encountered in many decades.
