Teleology of prions?

[Genecks]

How do you think prions came about in the natural world?

I have considered as of late that it was an odd mutation created by a plant in order to defend itself against herbivores.

[Mokele]

AFAIK, there's no evidence of plant prions.

[Genecks]

My Premise:

If the prions were a naturally occurring protein inside of a conscious, living organism, then it would have undergone rapid deterioration during developmental growth: It would have died at a young age.

[CharonY]

Huh? I do not follow.

[dttom]

A prion seems to be able to turn a normal protein into prion (by re-folding). So in this sense it behaves as if a replicator. Even considering it as a virus like agent would be acceptable, or to say, it does not requires a genetic basis for its propagation (not origin of itself).

[Genecks]

Huh? I do not follow.

 

I'm trying to decide ways prions came into the natural world.

 

If an organism with the proteins that prions destroys are present, then the organism would surely die or not be able to live too long when born.

 

Therefore, I came under the consideration that the organism that produced prions does not have a brain.

 

Prions, from what I consider, somehow found their way into the foodweb by chance. A small chance that is, unless it can be found to occur in a living organism without deterring the organism's fitness.

[CharonY]

I think at least hypothesis states that prions may be of retroviral origin. However prions do not necessarily have to have deleterious effects in their original hosts, therefore the reasoning is a bit off.

[Rickdog]

........

Prions, from what I consider, somehow found their way into the foodweb by chance. A small chance that is, ...........

 

Not really by chance, but by purpose, since if humans never intended to play as god by forcing those cattle animals that were originally herbivorous, to eat meat by mixing meat with other elements in the preparation of concentrates of food in order to make their breeding more efficient, by the suministration of those proteins that the animal had to elaborate otherwise, and more "eficient" yet, to turn them in cannibals by forcing them to eat their own proteins, probably prions would have ever appeared.

 

And to "put the cherry on top of the cake", once the problem was discovered, on purpose it was decided by local authoroties, to "shut up" and remain silent about the problem to the rest of the world, giving the nature of prions the possibility to spread all over the world.

 

It wasn`t by chance, my friend, but negligence of humans and humans only.

 

[greenprogrammin]

Wow...

I've got to add my 2 cents....

 

A Prion I believe is an enzyme that has become destructive yet virulent. I believe that it has come to existence by evolution. With the number of enzymes and the functionality of the enzyme I believe that it has to be one of the better ideas.

 

Consider the various anatomy and physiology of enzymes:

The Alosteric site

The Active Site

etc...

 

I believe that this is just another flaw that will work itself out through evolution. The method of infection, transmission, etc... is most likely inherited (yet not always expressed), etc...

 

I'm not a prionologist... lol... But when I sit through various lectures I have developed this as my personal thought on the subject.

[immortal]

How do you think prions came about in the natural world?

The ansewr to that question would be by Natural selection. Prions are not always harmful it is helpful when an animal is living in two extreme conditions so that the prions can fold or change shape when the animal is living in either of these conditions and vice versa. This is a huge advatanage has the animal does not have to rely on the DNA for mutation to take place.

However as you said it becomes harmful by making the other proteins to fold into its shape with the help of a molecule called chaperone. It affects the brain in humans often called the mad cow disease. Here the brain cells die not because of too much prions in its environment but it sacrifices itself as soon as the prionic conversion is triggered to save other cells.