prion

plural prions

1. molecular biologyA self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue.

   Prion disease shares many features.

   1987, Molecular Biology of the Human Brain: Proceedings of an Upjohn-UCLA Symposium, Held in Keystone, Colorado, April 19–26, 1987, volume 72, page 168

   2 more examples

   Prions retain deep mysteries, the foremost of which is what on earth they exist for.

   1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 277

   Five public research institutions in France have imposed a 3-month moratorium on the study of prions—a class of misfolding, infectious proteins that cause fatal brain diseases—after a retired lab worker who handled prions in the past was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the most common prion disease in humans.

   2021 July 28, Barbara Casassus, “France issues moratorium on prion research after fatal brain disease strikes two lab workers”, in Science

plural prions

1. A petrel of the genera Pachyptila and Halobaena.

   Synonyms: pachyptile