Navigating the Complex World of Prions: AI as a Guide and Tool for Writing

As a persistent explorer of human health and biology, I've often immersed myself in scientific papers, books, articles, and podcasts to learn more about both familiar and new topics. I didn't realize that this conventional approach to education could be improved until last year, when I began using artificial intelligence (AI) applications. These tools have provided me with new and more effective ways to discover subjects and, as a non-expert, have dramatically improved my ability to gain insights into the topics I choose to investigate.

Discovering Prions Through AI

One compelling example of how AI has enhanced my learning occurred while I was using an AI application (specifically, Pi by Inflection) to learn about biological taxonomy (the classification of organisms) and virology (the study of viruses). While exploring these topics, this application introduced me to a subject I found both captivating and unsettling: prions. Prions are misfolded proteins capable of causing devastating neurodegenerative diseases in both humans and some animals—diseases that are invariably fatal[1]. Despite my active interest in health and biology, I was surprised that I had never come across this topic before; prions were not even a footnote in my knowledge base.

There's something about this (Creutzfeldt-Jakob prion) disease and the way it attacks our loved ones that is so different than other diseases. It's such a shock. They're taken away from us in such insidious ways.
– Confronting CJD & other Prion Disorders

My curiosity piqued, I began asking various AI applications many questions about prions. In response, I received a wealth of relevant and targeted information, leading me to discover more than 25 subtopics. Each subtopic triggered a newfound interest and an eagerness to learn more.

Driven by this fascination, I decided to transform my casual questioning into a more structured learning effort. I began organizing the information provided by the AI applications into notes structured around the subtopics I had identified, such as the process of prion protein misfolding, the neurological impact of prions, the history of their discovery, and ongoing research efforts to better understand them[2]. This structured approach, facilitated by AI, has enabled me to gain a better understanding of prions and their significance in a way that would have been virtually impossible for me before the emergence of AI.

Writing to Deepen Understanding

To maximize the benefits of this learning experience, I have also chosen to write articles on each prion-related subtopic I'm studying, using AI applications to assist me with the process. Although this choice will undoubtedly extend my learning journey by several months, I believe that incorporating a writing component will enable me to engage more actively with the material and strengthen my understanding. This approach will also help me broaden my scientific vocabulary.

The Prion Project Unfolds

This entire experience has been eye-opening. Before gaining access to AI's power, the notion of starting a comprehensive, self-directed study of such a complex topic would have seemed like a mountain too big to climb. The mere thought of combining an extensive learning project with an ambitious writing endeavor on the same esoteric subject? It would have been the stuff of fantasies, something I would have quickly dismissed as an unrealistic daydream. But now, with AI applications at my fingertips, I feel empowered to follow my curiosity, learn extensively about prions, and even self-publish my findings.

In the section below, you'll find a categorized list of the prion-related articles (with provisional titles) that I'm planning to publish in the coming months. This list may evolve as my understanding of prions grows and as I progress with my writing. After each article is released, I'll update this page with links to the completed pieces. Furthermore, I won't treat these articles as static—I'm committed to updating, clarifying, and correcting their content when new information becomes available.

Although this project will require a significant time commitment for both the research and writing components, I'm excited to learn about the world of prions. Exploring this complex scientific topic and honing my writing with the assistance of AI is a process that I believe will be incredibly rewarding.

My upcoming prion-related articles and topics:

The Biology:

1. Proteins - Among the Fundamental Building Blocks of Life.
2. Understanding Protein Folding and Misfolding.
3. The Structural Foundation of Prion Protein (PrP^C).
4. Beyond PrP^C: Exploring the Prion-like Behavior of Shadoo, Doppel, and SPRN.
5. The Anatomical Localization of Prion Proteins and Their Functions in the Human Body: What We Know So Far.

Diseases and Transmission:

1. The Prion Domain and Beyond: Misfolding, Neuronal Destruction, and the Comprehensive Pathogenic Journey of Prion Proteins.
2. Prion Diseases: A General Overview of Symptoms, Brain Pathology, Progression, and Physiological Impacts.
3. Understanding Prion Strain Diversity: Molecular Mechanisms and Pathological Impacts of Identified Variants.
4. The "Spectrum Disorder" Perspective on Prion Diseases: Unifying the Understanding of Prion Diseases.
5. The Puzzling Realm of Spontaneous Prion Diseases: From Sporadic CJD to Fatal Insomnia.
6. Genetic Susceptibility to Prion Diseases: Exploring the Impact of Mutations and Familial Factors.
7. From Food to Medical Procedures: How Prion Diseases Can Infect Humans.
8. The Body's Paradoxical Response to Prions: How Cellular and Immune Defenses May Contribute to Disease Progression.

Disease Prevalence:

1. Prion Diseases Across the Globe: Variations, Incidence Rates, Surveillance, and Expert Insights.
2. Prion Diseases in China: Trends, Patterns, and Regional Differences.

History and Research:

1. Tracing the Understanding of Prion Diseases: From Scrapie to Nobel Recognition.
2. Post Prusiner's Key 1982 Paper: Two More Major Prion Diseases Emerge.
3. The Rise and Fall of Skepticism: Key Critics of the Protein-Only Hypothesis and Their Legacy.
4. From Obscurity to Controversy and then the Nobel Prize: The Remarkable Journey of Stanley Prusiner and His Prion Discovery.
5. The Evolving Research of Daniel Carleton Gajdusek: Unraveling Kuru and Advancing Neuroscience.
6. Prions and Prion Proteins: A Review of Research Milestones from the 1990s to the Present Day.
7. A Historical Inquiry into Prion Diseases: Exploring Possible Cases Prior to the 1920s.

Other Prion-related Topics:

1. Through an Evolutionary Lens: What's Known and Unknown About the Role of Prion Proteins and Diseases in Animals Over Time.
2. Prion Diseases and Lifestyle Factors: What Does the Research Say?
3. Prion-like Mechanisms in Other Neurodegenerative Disorders: Insights from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases.
4. The Surprising Similarities: The Commonalities Between Prion-like Phenomena in Fungal Species and Mammalian Prion Diseases.
5. Cross-Species Transmission of Prion Diseases: From Animal-to-Animal and Animals to Humans.
6. Prion Persistence: Understanding Their Resilience and Decontamination Challenges.
7. Prions in Our Surroundings: Current Knowledge on Their Presence and Impact in Soil, Water, and Indoors.
8. Plants as Prion Carriers: Reviewing the Current Evidence and Potential Food Chain Impacts.

References.

1. Proteostasis unbalance in prion diseases: Mechanisms of neurodegeneration and therapeutic targets. Frontiers in Neuroscience. September 5, 2022.
2. Human prion diseases and the prion protein – what is the current state of knowledge? Translational Neuroscience. October 16, 2023.