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The causative agent of mad-cow disease is a -
A
Bacterium
B
Prion
C
Worm
D
Virus
Detailed Solution
Mad-cow disease is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a fatal disease of the nervous system of cattle.
It is caused by a prion, an infectious agent that consists only of an abnormally folded protein and contains no nucleic acid.
The abnormal prion protein makes the normal proteins of the brain cells change into the abnormal form, and their accumulation destroys the nerve cells, giving the brain a spongy appearance.
Its analogous variant in humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD); scrapie of sheep is another prion disease.
It is not caused by a bacterium, a worm or a virus.
So the causative agent of mad-cow disease is a prion.
It is caused by a prion, an infectious agent that consists only of an abnormally folded protein and contains no nucleic acid.
The abnormal prion protein makes the normal proteins of the brain cells change into the abnormal form, and their accumulation destroys the nerve cells, giving the brain a spongy appearance.
Its analogous variant in humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD); scrapie of sheep is another prion disease.
It is not caused by a bacterium, a worm or a virus.
So the causative agent of mad-cow disease is a prion.