Kuru and its contribution to medicine

The solution of kuru led us to the solution of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and to the elucidation, in humans and other species, of previously unknown mechanisms of infection. These require very close three-dimensional matching, which determines infectious nucleant or prion activity. Evidence for nucleation processes is found widely in the organic and inorganic worlds and in the interactions between them: in the formation of amyloid fibrils; in the biochemistry of silicon; in cave formations deep in the Earth; and in outer space. Kuru in its location in Papua New Guinea has also led to an understanding of the cultural achievements of the Palaeo-Melanesians, with deep roots in human history

Family Clustering of Viliuisk Encephalomyelitis in Traditional and New Geographic Regions

Transmission occurs through patient contact; human migration from disease-endemic villages leads to disease emergence in new communities

D. Carleton Gadjusek to Viktor Hamburger, December 6, 1982

Typed letter, 1 pageRemembrances of Woods HoleCorrespondenc