The following websites provide a quick review of prion research in the news. Prions, short for "proteinaceous infectious particles," are responsible for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), mad cow disease, scrapie disease, chronic wasting disease, and other deadly brain diseases. The first website, a Science Update from the journal _Nature_, reports on an intriguing study published earlier this year...

The discovery of a cow carrying BSE in the United States has reenergized the public's interest in such topics. This site, an offshoot of the WHO site devoted to diseases, offers a good overview of the disease and its similar nature to that of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease -- the form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that can affect humans. Also of note at this site is a exceptionally...