A protein variant can provide protection from deadly brain-wasting
Evolution found cure for prion disease spread by cannibalism
![prions and disease](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ti_prion.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
BRAIN DRAIN Prion diseases, such as kuru and mad cow disease, result when a normal brain protein (lower left) morphs into a disease-causing form and converts its normal counterparts. The twisted proteins form clumps (upper center) or strands that cluster in large plaques (lower right) that kill brain cells.
Nicolle Rager Fuller