prions

http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/07-01-30-02.all.html Interesting. It's too soon to know if it's true, but I'm very curious, and hope it does turn out to be true. I looked around to see if antivirals have ever been experimentally used in an attempt to treat TSEs, and all I could find were...

Okay, so a mad cow was found in the US, or at least a cow that tested positive for Mad Cow Disease. How does one test for these things? Is it possible to test for prions themselves while they lay dormant, or does one have to wait until some symptoms manifest themselves before testing? Also...