Fatal Flaws
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2.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Most people have never heard of prions. Indeed, most are only barely aware of the diseases caused by them, except, perhaps, for mad cow disease. Yet prions are the stuff of a revolutionary science—a science that might lead to cures for some of humankind’s most devastating diseases.
Fatal Flaws is a scientific detective story about this elusive protein, starting with the discovery of kuru, a disease unique to New Guinea in the 1950s that baffled scientists and carried with it whispers of cannibalism. Kuru began a scientific stampede to seek out the agent of this mysterious disease—the prion—a misfolded protein whose existence some of the world’s top scientists still find difficult to accept. Today, the subject of prions remains controversial, yet the proteins might promise new treatments for some of the most intractable brain diseases, ones that affect millions around the planet, including Parkinson’s, ALS and Alzheimer’s.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Science writer Ingram (Theatre of the Mind) provides a thorough overview and update on prion diseases for laypersons. Readers will find the pages turning themselves as they engage with an ongoing medical research enigma. From kuru, the disease that felled New Guineans observing a ghastly carnivorous tradition, to the sheep disease scrapie, known since 1775, to the more recent manifestations of mad cow disease and Creuzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans, Ingram details the symptoms that mystified researchers for decades until misfolded proteins, named "prions", were identified and hypothesized as the cause of these fatal neurodegenerative diseases. Though their exact roles are still debated, misfolded proteins have now been implicated in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, and other human diseases, as well as Chronic Wasting Disease in deer. Ingram balances his narrative with facts and theories to provide a fascinating view into the complexities of cellular life, with several illustrations and photomicrographs to enable the lay reader to visualize what scientists have observed. Noting that puzzles still remain to be solved, Ingram concludes that "prions have revolutionized thinking about how disease can spread... and they still may open doors to the understanding of conditions like Alzheimer's."
