CC: YOU WERE ASKED TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE GAPS IN TERMS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THESE PRION-RELATED DISEASES. WHAT IS IT THAT WE STILL NEED TO ADDRESS, WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS?
DM: Well, the big unknown is still what is the agent. We tend to refer to prion almost as if in common language it actually means something but the bottom line is it still relates to what is thought to be an infectious protein. But where there is still some occasional conflicting data and to me that is the key finding for all of these prion diseases–humans and animals–can we actually identify what causes that disease, how it can be transmitted from animal to animal would be better understood if we could do that and there is evidence, for example, that they are not universally transmissible from animal to animal or human to human. And understanding the make-up of the agent would actually help you understand that. Why it happens. Why it doesn’t happen. And, how you could then control it.