They aggregate to form plaques called amyloids, which disrupt tissue structure and make brain tissue appear spongelike.
These cause the only known diseases that can be sporadic, genetic, or infectious. They behave somewhat like ice-nine in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. Initially controversial because they violate the central dogma of molecular biology, the abnormal ones propagate themselves by causing the normal molecule to fold itself into the abnormally structured form, without the use of nucleic acids. They can cause Kuru, (*) as well as scrapie in sheep and goats, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. They aggregate to form plaques called amyloids, which disrupt tissue structure and make brain tissue appear spongelike. FTP, name these infectious agents responsible for mad cow disease.
These cause the only known diseases that can be sporadic, genetic, or infectious.
{prions} or {proteinaceous} infectious {particles}