RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Alberta Milestones

David Westaway and his collaborators defined a mammalian glycoprotein called shadoo, the first discovery of a prion-like protein synthesized in the brain since the prion protein was identified in the 1980s

David Bressler led a team that developed new methods to break down and reassemble specified risk materials from cattle into safe, decontaminated parts that have potential commercial value

Tiejun Gao and Highmark Renewable Research Inc. developed a technology to turn organic waste into combustible and renewable biogas

Jan Braun and her team have identified three proteins that regulate the folding of essential synaptic proteins

Maria Stepanova, Brian Sykes and David Wishart described what prions look like, how they fold and how misfolded prions differ from normal, non-infectious ones

David Wishart and Michael Woodside developed techniques to use optical tweezers to pull apart single protein molecules

Frank Jirik and his colleagues developed animal models to study the normal function of the prion protein

Stefanie Czub and her colleagues discovered a biomarker that could indicate the presence of BSE in cattle

Charles Holmes and Jack Jhamandas and their colleagues found that prions play a role in the electrical activity and signaling mechanisms of cells

Frederick West and his colleagues synthesized molecules that can prevent normal prions from misfolding into their infectious form

Judd Aiken and Debbie McKenzie discovered variant strains of chronic wasting disease

Gerald Zamponi and his research team found that normal prion proteins protect brain cells from fatal chemical hyperactivity

Miodrag Belosevic and Norman Neumann discovered that prions are highly susceptible to ozone inactivation

Evelyn Merrill and her colleagues in the Governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan learned how mule deer population density could reduce the spread of chronic wasting disease

Tim McAllister and his colleagues found a way to reduce the infectiousness of specified risk materials in cattle during composting

Valerie Sim and her research collaborators found conditions under which prions can assume slightly different shapes in the brain

Michael James and his colleagues determined a 3-D structure of the prion to identify a site where antibodies can bind to the prion molecule

David Westaway and his collaborators discovered that the cellular prion protein is reduced early on in many types of prion infections, suggesting a host protective response and a new point of intervention to slow disease progress

Ellen Goddard and her team found that policy, regulation and risk communication strategies influence public perception about BSE and food safety

Burim Ametaj and David Wishart found that prions play a role in the body’s immune system

Judd Aiken and Norman Neumann and their teams discovered that prion protein attaches itself to soil and that soil type plays a role in prion infectivity

Leluo Guan and her research team identified some of the protein-to-protein interactions involved in BSE, adding to the body of knowledge about how the disease processes

Stephen Moore and his research team found a number of cattle genes that are associated with BSE susceptibility or are activated when BSE is present

Ted Allison and his team developed specialized transgenic zebrafish to model mammalian prion diseases

David Coltman and his team found that deer lack natural genetic resistance to chronic wasting disease

Ellen Goddard, Vic Adamowicz and Carmen Fuentealba documented public perceptions and attitudes about chronic wasting disease

Norman Neumann, Miodrag Belosevic and other researchers discovered that prions continue to be shed in feces for at least 16 months after an animal has been infected

Stephen Moore and his team identified 82 genes that play a role in chronic wasting disease