The infectious prion then hijacks the body’s machinery, reprogramming it into a willing executioner of prion replication. Since the disease’s outbreak, it has been revealed that many common ailments – including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease – have similar properties.
此外，朊病毒没有它们自己的基因。朊病毒基因由其以无害状态居住其中被传染个体提供。传染性朊病毒会劫持宿主的机能，对其进行重新编排，使之成为朊病毒复制器刽子手。自该病爆发以来，人们已经意识到，多种普通疾病——包括阿尔茨海默氏症和帕金森病——都有类似的性质。