Reply #27: you're being a tad hysterical here

[treepig]

there are many ways to "kill" a prion. for example, bleach, heat, flame, and radiation will all do the trick, provided conditions are harsh enough. and therein lies the problem - such harsh conditions cannot be used to treat either human disease (or render meat safe) because they would kill everything (the goal would be to selectively target the prion, while leaving surrounding healthy molecules untouched. that's the beauty of antibiotics, they kill bacteria in your body, but not your own cells, by contrast, heating your brain to 1800 C will kill any prions therein, but would also have rather nasty side effects)