Prions Food and Drug Safety
Prion diseases recently have attracted interest not only scientifically but also socially because of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic and the outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United Kingdom. In 2004, the Inter
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Prions Food and Drug Safety
T. Kitamoto (Ed.)
Prions Food and Drug Safety
With 24 Figures
Springer
Tetsuyuki Kitamoto, M.D. Department of Prion Research Tohoku University School of Medicine 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
ISBN 4-431-25539-7 Springer-Verlag Tokyo Berlin Heidelberg New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2005928946 Printed on acid-free paper © Springer-Verlag Tokyo 2005 Printed in Japan This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproducdon on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Product liability: The publisher can give no guarantee for information about drug dosage and application thereof contained in this book. In every individual case the respective user must check its accuracy by consulting other pharmaceutical literature. Springer-Verlag is a part of Springer Science+Business Media springeronline.com Typesetting: Camera-ready by the editor and authors Printing and binding: Hicom, Japan
Preface
Prion disease is a lethal degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, infecting humans and animals. The disease has been of scientific interest because protein itself was thought to be an infectious agent. Now prion disease is becoming a social issue as well because of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic and the outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United Kingdom. BSE has begun to attack humans by an oral route, through food. But now we must also think about a second line attack of BSE, i.e., infection via transfusions. In addition to transfusions, we must be concerned about the safety of therapeutic drugs and medical practices against BSE. As editor, I have compiled this book mainly from papers presented at the meeting of the International Symposium of Prion Diseases for Food and Drug Safety, held October 31-November 2, 2004, in Sendai, Japan. Sendai is a city that is historically associated with the prion hypothesis. The International Congress of Virology was held there in 1984. The 1984 meeting was the first time that there was intense discussion about whether the etiologic agents of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) are prions or scrapie-associated fibrils (SAP). In this 2004 symposium, invited speakers comprised those at the cutting edge of current prion research who had not taken part in the 1984 arguments. These scientists thus represent the second generation of prion researchers. One of the purposes of this symposium was to spotlight a third generation of prion researchers whose work can continue over the next two decades. After our very productive meeting, I was saddened to hear
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