Protein blocking reverses ‘mad cow disease’ in mice (New Scientist) A new treatment rescues the brain function of mice with prion disease, but any attempt to adapt the approach to humans with vCJD will take many years [News Source]

Filter removes mad cow proteins from blood (New Scientist) Tests suggest the new device could prevent transmission of deadly prion disease via blood transfusions [News Source]

Gene silencing fights mad cow disease (New Scientist) A type of gene silencing known as RNA interference slows the progression of prion disease in mice by more than 30% [News Source]

Should people be tested for mad cow disease? (New Scientist) Would you want to know if you were a carrier of vCJD - the human form of BSE - even though there is currently no cure? [News Source]

Alzheimer’s ’seeded’ like mad cow disease (New Scientist) As with BSE, it now seems that malformed proteins "seed" the formation of plaques in the brain of people with Alzheimer's disease [News Source]

US ‘rediscovers’ its second mad cow (New Scientist) A sample retest confirms BSE in a cow thought to have been free of the disease in November 2004 - it could be the US's first native born case [News Source]

First human case of mad cow disease in Japan (New Scientist) A man is confirmed to have died of vCJD in Japan - officials claim a brief trip to the UK 16 years ago is to blame [News Source]

Canada discovers its third mad cow (New Scientist) This is the fourth "mad cow" detected in North America, and raises concerns over whether some regions are looking hard enough for BSE [News Source]

New form of mad cow disease found (New Scientist) It resembles one type of a human prion disease, sporadic CJD, raising the possibility that this is acquired from cattle [News Source]

Mad cow quarantine in Canada extended (New Scientist) Nine herds are now isolated as investigators scramble to find the cause of a case of BSE - and whether any other animals are infected [News Source]