Laura Manuelidis
Encyclopedia
Laura Manuelidis is a physician
and neuropathologist at Yale University
. She earned her B.A. degree from Sarah Lawrence College
, where she studied poetry, and her M.D. from Yale Medical School. She is head of the section of Neuropathology
in the department of Surgery
at Yale. She is also on the faculty of Neuroscience
s and Virology
. Her major contributions include the discovery of complex repeated DNAs at centromeres and on chromosome arms (LINES) and their organization in interphase nuclei, in addition to elucidating mechanisms of infection in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
She has challenged the originally considered bizarre but now generally accepted explanation for the cause of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(better known as "Mad Cow Disease") and the human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
. The generally accepted explanation was put forth by Stanley B. Prusiner
, who won the 1997 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
. In his work, he coined the term prion
("proteinacious infectious agents") to refer to a previously undescribed form of infection due to malformed proteins. In January 2007 Manuelidis and her colleagues published a contributed article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
claiming that they found a virus
that could be responsible for the diseases. Manuelidis said, “Although much work remains to be done, there is a reasonable possibility these are the long sought viral particles that cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, The [prion] is probably not infectious, but is a pathological result [of] an infectious virus binding to this host protein.”
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and neuropathologist at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. She earned her B.A. degree from Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, where she studied poetry, and her M.D. from Yale Medical School. She is head of the section of Neuropathology
Neuropathology
Neuropathology is the study of disease of nervous system tissue, usually in the form of either small surgical biopsies or whole autopsy brains. Neuropathology is a subspecialty of anatomic pathology, neurology, and neurosurgery...
in the department of Surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
at Yale. She is also on the faculty of Neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
s and Virology
Virology
Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy...
. Her major contributions include the discovery of complex repeated DNAs at centromeres and on chromosome arms (LINES) and their organization in interphase nuclei, in addition to elucidating mechanisms of infection in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
She has challenged the originally considered bizarre but now generally accepted explanation for the cause of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
(better known as "Mad Cow Disease") and the human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD is a degenerative neurological disorder that is incurable and invariably fatal. CJD is at times called a human form of mad cow disease, given that bovine spongiform encephalopathy is believed to be the cause of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans.CJD...
. The generally accepted explanation was put forth by Stanley B. Prusiner
Stanley B. Prusiner
Stanley Ben Prusiner is an American neurologist and biochemist. Currently the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at University of California, San Francisco . Prusiner discovered prions, a class of infectious self-reproducing pathogens primarily or solely composed of protein...
, who won the 1997 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
. In his work, he coined the term prion
Prion
A prion is an infectious agent composed of protein in a misfolded form. This is in contrast to all other known infectious agents which must contain nucleic acids . The word prion, coined in 1982 by Stanley B. Prusiner, is a portmanteau derived from the words protein and infection...
("proteinacious infectious agents") to refer to a previously undescribed form of infection due to malformed proteins. In January 2007 Manuelidis and her colleagues published a contributed article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences...
claiming that they found a virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
that could be responsible for the diseases. Manuelidis said, “Although much work remains to be done, there is a reasonable possibility these are the long sought viral particles that cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, The [prion] is probably not infectious, but is a pathological result [of] an infectious virus binding to this host protein.”