Innovation Anthology #250:
Getting rid of prions is an almost impossible task. The infectious form of these proteins is related to mad cow, chronic wasting disease, variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease, and has even been linked to Alzheimer’s.
The world’s leading expert in prion decontamination is Dr. Jean Phillipe Deslys. He’s with the Atomic Energy Commission in France.
While incineration at extremely high temperatures is the current option, Dr. Deslys says there are some promising new technologies on the horizon.
DR. JEAN PHILLIPE DESLYS: You have one in Canada from what I saw where you come to a hydrolysis combining autoclaving, high temperature, high pressure and by sodium hydroxide. There is also one that we are currently developing for our government to try to have something less aggressive and to allow the reuse of the food after this. Because we are in a particular situation in Europe where we have almost no more cases and we destroy the maximum of things.
Dr. Jean Phillipe Deslys spoke about the problem of decontamination at the recent Prion Conference in Edmonton.
Thanks today to the Canadian Institutes for Health Research
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
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Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Program Date: 2009-08-18