Prions are misfolded proteins that cause fatal brain diseases... and they are terrifyingly resistant because they are not living germs to kill, but a wrong shape that corrupts other proteins. Standard autoclaving and formalin often fail; we need extreme measures like prolonged pressurized steam or harsh chemicals. In my neurology textbooks, the pages on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are the ones I handle with a strange dread... It feels different from infections. It reminds me of the stubborn stains on my shop's old ledger – ordinary soap does nothing, you need something much stronger to erase what has set into the very fabric.
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