AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Prions cannot be destroyed by boiling, alcohol, acid, standard autoclaving methods, or radiation. In fact, infected brains that have been sitting in formaldehyde for decades can still transmit spongiform disease.

Detailed explanation-2: -To destroy a prion it must be denatured to the point that it can no longer cause normal proteins to misfold. Sustained heat for several hours at extremely high temperatures (900°F and above) will reliably destroy a prion.

Detailed explanation-3: -Notably, prion agents are recognized to be one of the most resistant pathogens to either physical or chemical inactivation [12]. For example, they are not inactivated by standard sterilization techniques, such as 20 min of autoclaving at 121 °C or ultraviolet/-ray irradiation [13, 14].

Detailed explanation-4: -To inactivate prions, use of an autoclave under severe condition (134˚C, 18 min), NaOH (1 N, 20˚C, 1 h), SDS (30%, 100˚C, 10 min), and NaOCl (20000 ppm, 20˚C, 1 min) is recommended (Table III). As a practical method for prion inactivation, the following procedures are recommended (38).

Detailed explanation-5: -Incineration is possible, but it isn’t as easy as burning the carcass in a fire. Temperatures of more than 1, 100 degrees Fahrenheit-sometimes up to 1, 800 degrees-are required to effectively neutralize prions. Unlike most bacteria, regular cooking won’t help at all.