So are viruses and prions alive?

Do prions self replicate?

>>9154574
No.

>>9154574
Yes, even rna is a alive

>>9154574
>Prions cause insomnia

What kind of retarded shit did this slide come from

>>9154619
I suppose if you don't have a brain you can't sleep or something.

>>9154619
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_familial_insomnia

I don't know jack shit about biochemistry and even I can tell you're a brainlet

some viruses, yes
all prions, no

okay but seriously, what kind of magical conformation does a protein need to have to not be degraded by lysosomal enzymes, and it replicates itself? how?

>get a supercomputer to predict the probable structure a prion protein will have
>have the supercomputer design an enzyme that would work as a competitive inhibitor to it
>cure prion disease

it's all on you, cs fags

>>9154574
No, next question

Viruses are carriers of evolution.

>>9155079
Applications of computers to biology is the future

I study bacteriophages and I can guarantee you the future of disease treatment is phage therapy.

>>9154582
No. A prion is basically a protein that folded wrong into a lower energy state. When it touches another similar protein, it causes that protein to fold wrong and so on. Its alive in the same way a super cooled water molecule is, in that it "infects" similar species.