CWD research

Stocker

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I’m not a scientist (I just play one online sometimes). Is there anything in this that has any merit? As I read it, it sounds like something I would write or come up with. A good theory, but I don’t understand the solution.

 
Interesting. We can never have enough alternatives for exploration when trying to solve a riddle of science. Looks like this scientist is promoting a forum for discussion between other researchers.
 
Sent the link to the guy running the state lab in Laramie, interested to see what he says about some of the info.
 
This dude, Bastien, pops up every year or so. I don't take his work very seriously. I don't think many in the CWD world do either, considering he can't get any grant funds and pretty much everyone else disagrees with him. He thinks bacteria causes CWD basically. No one else does...
 
He claimed he'd have a vaccine for CWD on deer farms within 2 years back in 19... don't think he came through on that one unless I missed something. I did just learn that we're getting some tests coming along that don't have to be done post mordem... issue is there's some false negatives. Still, that seems like a step in the right direction.
 
This line is blatantly false- “The PROBLEM with most Government and University informational websites is that no attempt is made to critique the research reports, making it impossible for others to understand the significance of these data.”
 
The responses are why I posted it without a real opinion. I’d never heard of the guy before.
 
All I know about CWD is it is prion based, so if he says it is caused by bacteria he is wrong. Know a guy who worked with the guy who got the Nobel prize for discovering prions. He invited him to the ceremony; if he bought his own ticket 🤣
 
All I know about CWD is it is prion based, so if he says it is caused by bacteria he is wrong. Know a guy who worked with the guy who got the Nobel prize for discovering prions. He invited him to the ceremony; if he bought his own ticket 🤣
Prions are abnormal proteins that have the ability to make other proteins similarly abnormal. What makes these proteins abnormal in the first place is the mystery. It may very well be that bacteria can somehow produce prions. There is strong evidence that some fungi can produce prion proteins (the word prion is a combination of the two words protein and infection).
 
It was interesting, however, TSE diseases appear to spontaneously occur at about 1/1,000,000 in many mammal species. It is only when transmission(rather than spontaneous occurance) becomes prevalent that rates start to exceed 1/1,000,000. The explanation for prion caused spontaneous TSE is basically that after creating a certain number of correct proteins, statistically an error occurs eventually. The malformed protein then results is repeating of the error. This explanation perfectly fits with the fact that almost all spontaneous prion disease occurs in older individuals of any species. It is only with transmission that we see young individuals become a significant percentage of the clinically ill. The theory of spontaneous malformed prion protein which can then induce further malformation perfectly fits what we see happening. The theory of a bacterial explanation does not fit what we see happening. I’m not a biologist, so perhaps I’m missing something.

Again, not a biologist, but I haven’t seen an research on a lab created enzyme to destroy the malformed protein. It seems to me that enzymes do exactly that, but because it’s not a protein that is supposed to exist, the infected animal would not produce an appropriate enzyme to dismantle it. It also seems that because it is a malformation, an enzyme could be designed to fit only the malformed protein, and thus not interfere with properly formed proteins. Getting that idea to a properly educated individual who was also open to entertain the thought long enough to figure out why it would or would not work, is likely an extremely difficult task.
 
This dude, Bastien, pops up every year or so. I don't take his work very seriously. I don't think many in the CWD world do either, considering he can't get any grant funds and pretty much everyone else disagrees with him. He thinks bacteria causes CWD basically. No one else does...
But all of the others have done such a good job of stopping CWD. The only solution I’ve seen so far is to kill all the deer.
 
But all of the others have done such a good job of stopping CWD. The only solution I’ve seen so far is to kill all the deer.
Not finding a solution to a complex problem is not justification for listening to some bat-chit crazy scientist and believing things that have no evidence of efficacy. If he has a solution, he can post it the web and let other scientists test the hypothesis through replicating the steps.
 
Same guy that’s been discussed before, trying to stir up more publicity and money. Nothing new.


 
Same guy that’s been discussed before, trying to stir up more publicity and money. Nothing new.


Which, to be fair, hardly makes him the lone ranger. 🤣
 
But all of the others have done such a good job of stopping CWD. The only solution I’ve seen so far is to kill all the deer.
Killing all the deer is a major exaggeration of what is being attempted and I'm guessing you know that. Complex problems likely don't have clear and easy solutions. This is particularily troublesome for politicians who feel critical thinking is posting cute little memes attacking the opposite party
 
Killing all the deer is a major exaggeration of what is being attempted and I'm guessing you know that. Complex problems likely don't have clear and easy solutions. This is particularily troublesome for politicians who feel critical thinking is posting cute little memes attacking the opposite party
Using federal sharpshooters and issuing more hunting permits to aggressively reduce the deer population has helped fight chronic wasting disease among white-tailed deer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports.
 
According to the google box: "Blogspot is a free and amateur platform from which many unprofessional blogs derive."
 
Killing all the deer is a major exaggeration of what is being attempted and I'm guessing you know that. Complex problems likely don't have clear and easy solutions. This is particularily troublesome for politicians who feel critical thinking is posting cute little memes attacking the opposite party
I agree that killing all the deer isn’t what departments are doing. I do think it might actually be the only thing that would work. It would best be done immediately upon finding animals that test positive in an area that had already been tested for a while without turning up any positives in the past, and then implemented in a large enough geographic area that would include animals that likely entered or exited the area around the positive test. The complete or near complete eradication would probably have to be implemented for 5-20 years. I don’t see that ever happening. I’m not sure that the population reductions and targeted harvest that departments are actually doing is having much impact on CWD. Perhaps slowing the progress in specific areas. I guess that’s something.

I get all my deer/elk tested and don’t eat it till I get the results back.
 
Better field testing methods will greatly help. The current logistics of getting animals tested isn't good.

Given the widely varied approach to "managing" the disease from state to state, it is apparent there are no clear cut answers.
 
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