Prions News

June 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Feat of 'Dung-Gineering' Turns Cow Manure Into One of World's Most Used Materials

May 7, 2025 — A new technique to extract tiny cellulose strands from cow dung and turn them into manufacturing-grade cellulose, currently used to make everything from surgical masks to food packaging, has been ...

Extreme Heat Impacts Dairy Production, Small Farms Most Vulnerable

Mar. 22, 2025 — Livestock agriculture is bearing the cost of extreme weather events. A new study explores how heat stress affects U.S. dairy production, finding that high heat and humidity lead to a 1% decline in annual milk yield. Small farms are hit harder than ...

Scientists Warn of Increased Mpox Transmission

Feb. 20, 2025 — International researchers warn that the ongoing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the potential to spread across borders more rapidly. The mpox virus has mutated, and the new variant, clade 1b, has become more ...

Reintroducing Wolves to Scottish Highlands Could Help Address Climate Emergency

Feb. 17, 2025 — Reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland which could take in and store one million tons of CO2 annually, according to a new ...

Camel Milk Udderly Good Alterative to Traditional Dairy

Feb. 6, 2025 — In addition to being hypoallergenic, camel milk could potentially protect the gut from harmful enzymes and create healthier ...

New Technology Tracks Dairy Cows for Improved Health and Productivity

Jan. 31, 2025 — High-quality milk remains in high demand, but managing the health of dairy cows is becoming increasingly challenging. To tackle this, researchers have developed an innovative location information-based technique that uses multi-camera systems to ...

Gene Editing Extends Lifespan in Mouse Model of Prion Disease

Jan. 14, 2025 — Researchers have developed a gene-editing treatment for prion disease that extends lifespan by about 50 percent in a mouse model of the fatal neurodegenerative condition. The treatment, which uses base editing to make a single-letter change in DNA, ...

Scientists Leverage Artificial Intelligence to Fast-Track Methane Mitigation Strategies in Animal Agriculture

Jan. 8, 2025 — A new study reveals that generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help expedite the search for solutions to reduce enteric methane emissions caused by cows in animal agriculture, which accounts ...

System to Auto-Detect New Variants Will Inform Better Response to Future Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Jan. 1, 2025 — Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans -- including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and ...

How Chemical Reactions Deplete Nutrients in Plant-Based Drinks

Dec. 13, 2024 — A new study of plant-based drinks reveals a common issue: they are lacking in proteins and essential amino acids compared to cow's milk. The explanation lies in their extensive processing, causing chemical reactions that degrade protein quality in ...

Bighorn Sheep Face Death by Avalanche in Sierra Nevada Range

Dec. 10, 2024 — Snow cover in the Sierra Nevada is expected to shrink overall as the climate warms, but avalanche frequency could remain the same or even increase at high elevations. That's bad news for bighorn sheep that live there, according to new ...

Single Mutation in H5N1 Influenza Surface Protein Could Enable Easier Human Infection

Dec. 7, 2024 — A single modification in the protein found on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus currently circulating in U.S. dairy cows could allow for easier ...

Latest Headlines

updated 3:09am EDT

CRISPR-Cas Technology: Balancing Efficiency and Safety

Dec. 4, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered a serious side effect of using the CRISPR-Cas gene scissors. A molecule designed to make the process more efficient destroys parts of the ...

Florida Panthers Deemed Unaffected by Emerging Fatal Genetic Condition

Nov. 22, 2024 — Biologists have determined that Florida panthers are likely not at increased risk for contracting chronic wasting disease from eating infected ...

Automated 3D Computer Vision Model Offers a New Tool to Measure and Understand Dairy Cow Behavior and Welfare

Nov. 20, 2024 — Dairy cows typically rest for 10 or more hours a day, so a dry, clean, and comfortable place -- such as a freestall -- to lie down and rest is ...

Study of Mountaineering Mice Sheds Light on Evolutionary Adaptation

Nov. 8, 2024 — Highland deer mice and their lowland cousins ventured on a simulated seven-week ascent to 6,000 meters. By tracking how the mice responded to cold stress and progressively lower oxygen levels, the ...

Improving Deer Health One Test at a Time

Nov. 3, 2024 — The cervid livestock business is one of the fastest-growing industries in rural America. In Missouri alone, more than 250 farms are dedicated to raising deer. To improve overall herd health and ...

Pythons Can Swallow Even Bigger Prey Than Scientists Realized

Oct. 28, 2024 — Burmese pythons can consume prey even larger than scientists realized, according to a new study. That means more animals are on the menu across southern Florida, where the nonnative, invasive snakes ...

Fossils Unveil How Southern Europe's Ecosystem Changed Through Glacial-Interglacial Stages

Oct. 24, 2024 — Fossils from more than 600,000 years ago reveal how Southern Europe's animal community shifted between warm and cold climate fluctuations, according ...

How Do Coexisting Animals Find Enough to Eat? Biologists Unlock Insights Into Foraging Habits in Yellowstone

Sep. 20, 2024 — Ecologists have long sought clarity on the dietary habits of different animal species. For scientists, it wasn't obvious how herbivores in ...

Ancient Sea Cow Attacked by a Crocodile and Sharks Sheds New Light on Prehistoric Food Chains

Aug. 29, 2024 — A new study showing how a prehistoric sea cow was preyed upon by not one, but two different carnivores -- a crocodilian and a shark -- is revealing ...

Aoudad, Bighorn Sheep Share Respiratory Pathogens

Aug. 27, 2024 — A team of researchers has discovered that aoudad -- an animal in the sheep and goat family -- can catch and spread many of the same respiratory pathogens that can impact desert bighorn sheep, a ...

Zebrafish as a Model for Studying Rare Genetic Disease

Oct. 16, 2024 — Nager syndrome (NS) is an extremely rare disease that causes developmental problems and anomalies in facial bone structures and limbs. While the causative gene is known, its underlying mechanisms ...

Virus That Causes COVID-19 Is Widespread in Wildlife, Scientists Find

July 29, 2024 — SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is widespread among wildlife species, according to new research. The virus was detected in six common backyard species, and antibodies indicating prior ...

Understanding How a Red Seaweed Reduces Methane Emissions from Cows

July 22, 2024 — New research has implications for addressing a leading contributor to climate warming, ...

A Better Way to Make RNA Drugs

July 12, 2024 — RNA drugs are the next frontier of medicine, but manufacturing them requires an expensive and labor-intensive process that limits production and produces metric tons of toxic chemical waste. ...

Early Pyrenean Neolithic Groups Applied Species Selection Strategies to Produce Bone Artifacts

July 11, 2024 — A study has revealed that the earliest Neolithic groups to settle some 7,000 years ago in the Pyrenean site of Coro Trasito (Tella, Huesca) used species selection strategies to manufacture their ...

Wolves' Return Has Had Only Small Impact on Deer Populations in NE Washington

July 10, 2024 — Wolves returned to Washington state in 2008. A new study shows that, despite their rising numbers, wolves are not having much of an impact on white-tailed deer, one of their primary prey. Scientists ...

New Bio-Based Tool Quickly Detects Concerning Coronavirus Variants

July 8, 2024 — Researchers have developed a bioelectric device that can detect and classify new variants of coronavirus to identify those that are most harmful. It has the potential to do the same with other ...

Potent Therapy Candidate for Fatal Prion Diseases

June 27, 2024 — Scientists have developed a gene-silencing tool that shows promise as a therapy against fatal prion diseases. The tool, a streamlined epigenetic editor, paves the way for a new class of genetic ...

Biting Flies on Dairy Farms Can Spread Bovine Mastitis

June 26, 2024 — A new study identified biting flies as reservoirs of bacteria that cause bovine mastitis on dairy ...

Chronic Wasting Disease Unlikely to Move from Animals to People

May 17, 2024 — A new study of prion diseases, using a human cerebral organoid model, suggests there is a substantial species barrier preventing transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from cervids -- deer, ...

Parasitic Worm Likely Playing Role in Decline of Moose Populations

May 15, 2024 — A parasitic worm that can infest the brains of moose appears to be playing a role in the decline of the iconic animal in some regions of North America. Moose populations have been dwindling for years ...

Drug Compounds to Combat Neurodegenerative Diseases

May 15, 2024 — Prions are the abnormal, pathogenic agents that are transmissible and are able to induce abnormal folding of specific normal cellular proteins. Prion disease is an umbrella term for a group of fatal ...

Deer Are Expanding North, and That's Not Good for Caribou

Apr. 25, 2024 — In the boreal forest of Western Canada, researchers have considered that both changing climate and increased habitat alteration have enabled deer to push farther ...

New Testing Approach Improves Detection of Rare but Emerging Powassan Virus Spread by Deer Ticks

Mar. 26, 2024 — Researchers have come up with a new, more accurate method for detecting in ticks the emerging Powassan virus, which can cause life-threatening neuroinvasive disease, including encephalitis and ...

Sheep: Excess Temperatures Cause Low Flocking Concerns

Mar. 21, 2024 — High temperatures during critical periods of the reproductive cycle of sheep result in 2.1 million fewer lambs produced in Australia each year, costing sheep farmers an estimated $97 million ...

A Protein Found in Human Sweat May Protect Against Lyme Disease

Mar. 19, 2024 — Human sweat contains a protein that may protect against Lyme disease. About one-third of the population carries a genetic variant of this protein that is associated with Lyme disease in genome-wide ...

Gut Bacteria Important for Overcoming Milk Allergy

Mar. 15, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a link between gut bacteria and the success of milk-allergy oral immunotherapy. The study found that Bifidobacterium -- a genus of beneficial bacteria in the gut -- was ...

Milk to the Rescue for Diabetics? Cow Produces Human Insulin in Milk

Mar. 13, 2024 — An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. The advancement could herald a new era in insulin ...

Genetic Insights and Conservation Challenges of Nara's Sacred Deer

Feb. 21, 2024 — In Nara, Japan, the revered sika deer faces a dilemma as their escalating population damages local farmlands. A new study has revealed a complex situation: while the sanctuary's deer upholds a ...

Understanding Chronic Wasting Disease in Deer

Feb. 12, 2024 — A new collaborative study analyzed fecal samples to shed light on how the fatal disease impacts the gut microbiome in deer, providing a promising tool for disease ...