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Scrapie, a disease which causes severe brain damage in sheep, is caused by prions - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 12 - 2002 - Paper 1
Question 12
Scrapie, a disease which causes severe brain damage in sheep, is caused by prions. Prions are composed of A. carbohydrate. B. nucleic acid. C. protein. D. lipid.
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Scrapie, a disease which causes severe brain damage in sheep, is caused by prions - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 12 - 2002 - Paper 1
Step 1
C. protein.
Answer
Prions are infectious agents that lack nucleic acids (like DNA or RNA) and are primarily made up of protein. These misfolded proteins can induce other normal proteins in the brain to misfold as well, leading to neurodegenerative diseases such as scrapie in sheep. Therefore, the correct answer is:
C. protein.