Immune tribe 'indicates CJD hope' (BBC) {prion/Mad Cow connection}

[eppur_se_muova]

Darwinian natural selection could help halt human "mad cow disease", experts say after finding a tribe impervious to a related fatal brain disorder.

The Papua New Guinea tribe developed strong genetic resistance after a major epidemic of the CJD-like disease, kuru, spread mostly by cannibalism.
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Kuru, a prion disease similar to CJD in humans and BSE in animals, was transmitted at mortuary feasts where - until the practice was banned in the late 1950s - women and children consumed their deceased relatives as a mark of respect and mourning.

But a gene variation, G127V, found in people from the Purosa valley region of the Eastern Highlands seems to offer high or even complete immunity.
***
"Kuru comes from the same disease family as CJD, so the discovery of this powerful resistance factor opens up new areas for research taking us closer to understanding, treating and hopefully preventing of a range of prion diseases."
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8364603.stm

[aquart]

1. Same thing happened with the Black Death.

[trotsky]

2. Same thing happened with just about every malady that's struck humanity.

Evolution usually works, or we wouldn't be here.