Researchers had assumed this must only be possible if these proteins - prions - had some form of genetic content.
But US researchers have shown that they are made up solely of protein, and that new 'strains' result simply from prions twisting into new shapes...
It suggests that the ability of prions to misfold into new formations - or strains - accounts for their ability to trigger different diseases...
The researchers, from the University of California at San Francisco and Florida State University, believe that once a prion has folded into a new shape, it acts as template for others.
This produces a chain reaction that allows infection to spread.
This is much weirder than it sounds. Information processing actions, including replication and mutation, are occurring based on the ability of proteins to create multiple conformations ... the resulting "code" is then executed in the cellular interpreter. Prions are the spam of the body.
How do creationists think students will be able to understand ANYTHING without understanding how natural selection and emergent complexity works? Complex adaptive systems tend towards self-sustaining information processing cycles because natural selection drives towards persistent signals. Again, the ancient pattern of recursive complexity.
Where does it all end?
(PS. Yes, I know the above doesn't quite make sense, but trust me that there's something big here ...)
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