Soil boosts spread of prion diseases.

The article reports on prion research led by Judd Aiken of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prions, the proteins that cause Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), scrapie, and chronic wasting disease among grazing animals, were found to become 700 times more infectious when bound to the common soil mineral montmorillonite. The findings help explain why fields appear to remain infectious many years after they are grazed.