[meteorite-list] pollution

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jul 18 20:25:07 2005
Message-ID: <kohod1l6lqqo95nfl31n9qf2k9d338tv6b_at_4ax.com>

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:00:19 -0400, "MarkF" <mafer_at_imagineopals.com> wrote:

>current rash of insidious killing "bugs" we have going on (aids and mad cow
>and now white tail deer wasting disease) all seem to be some little bug they
>can't see under a magnifier. So, they name them preons I think, not quite a
>virus or bacterium and more than a glob of molecules maybe.
>I'm not a microbiologist, nor am I a chemist, and I'm bearly a geologist,
>but I do know that there are some sturdy little bugs in the world and many
>have a tougher hide than anything we ever dreamed of. There are bugs that
>eat minerals and leave lethal doses of cyanide and pure gold as a waste
>products for us to find. They live on hydrogen sulfides in total darkness
>and extreme heat.

The word you are looking for is "prion", not "preon" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion.

BSE is a prion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow

Chronic Wasting disease is possibly a prion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease

But AIDS is a retrovirus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow

One thing the three diseases have in common, though, is that they aren't "alive" and only function
at all within a living organism-- and one with similar proteins to which the diseases are adapted.
Retrovirii are closer to living (yep, there are degrees to "not alive") than prions, but even HIV
dies very quickly when removed from a living host. So those examples would be about the longest
shots imaginable for making it on another planet.
Received on Mon 18 Jul 2005 08:31:04 PM PDT