NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -While chemicals may not destroy a prion or render it inactive, prions may be manually removed or diluted with a disinfectant and scrubbing.

Detailed explanation-2: -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-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).