Scientists might finally understand how prions spread infect

After decades of research, scientists think they finally know what turns prions - healthy proteins inside our brains - into the infectious, virus-like pathogens that cause 'mad cow' disease, and have also been linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. 

It turns out, copper ions might be part of the problem.

If you haven't heard of prions before, be prepared to have your mind exploded by how creepy they are. 

Although they start out as harmless brain proteins, when prions become misfolded, they turn into contagious pathogens that recruit any other prions they come into contact with, grouping together in clumps that damage other cells and eventually cause the brain itself to break down.

If that's not bad enough, mutated prions can't easily be killed by heat or radiation, meaning once they've come into contact with something like surgical tools, they can potentially spread to other patients.

Prion-related diseases - collectively known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) - are fatal and untreatable, and since their discovery in the mid-80s, scientists haven't made much headway when it comes to figuring out how prions turn against us, or how to stop them.

But now researchers from Iowa State University have shown for the first time how, on the molecular level, copper ions cause prions to misfold, and then spread that mutation to other prions.

To be clear, they haven't linked those copper ions to prion-related diseases just yet - only the misfolding in the first place.