Prion Disease = " Zombie infection" ?

[Private Evans 1303]

Since the new devblog mentions configuration work on "Prion Disesase" I am wondering if a mutated Prion Disease could be the cause for the outbreak in our scenario ?

 

 

Prion diseases are associated with the build up in the brain (and some other organs) of an abnormal or ‘rogue’ form of a naturally occurring cellular protein, known as the prion protein. The rogue protein results from a change in shape of the normal prion protein.  Once formed in the body these rogue proteins recruit and convert more of the normal prion protein into the abnormal form, setting off a kind of chain reaction which leads to a progressive accumulation of the rogue protein.  In the normal course of events, once they have served their purpose, prion proteins are broken down by enzymes in the body.  The abnormal prions however are more resistant to this process; so they accumulate and cause damage in the brain, which interferes with normal brain functioning.  All forms of the disease are thought to be associated with an incubation period.  This is a clinically 'silent phase' during which replication of the rogue protein is thought to be taking place.

The function of the normal form of the protein remains unclear, though it is thought they may possibly play a role in the transport of messages between specific brain cells (synaptic transmission).

 

Is this the idea/background Dean has spoken about long time ago ? A Prion ieasese like BSE but highly contagious and having some kind of "Rage Virus" effects caused by the brain damage ....

 

 

for me this sounds really exciting   :) 

Edited November 22, 2014 by Private Evans

[fluxley 2228]

That was the original backstory from the mod, though it could just be referring to the brain disease we get from eating human meat.

 

Here's the original intro found in the files of older versions of the mod

 

 

DEAN HALL PRESENTS

 

A USECFORCE PRODUCTION

 

On 12 March 2013, a prion disease and spreads among the worlds population triggering a global pandemic

The disease causes proteins in the brain to be replaced with prions ceasing regular function

Most people progress to dementia and then death as the brain is replaced with ineffective sludge

86% of the worlds population die

Some survive with the disease in a chronic state. 

Lacking regular brain function, they are scarely human. They are unable to communicate, 

driven by insatiable desire for violence, and attracted to the scent of those uninfected

Society crumbles as the pandemic spreads rapidly

You are one of the 2% who are not infected yet

 

THIS IS YOUR STORY

 

Could be that they want to link the cannibalism brain disease to the infection. would explain why they suddenly stopped calling it Kuru.

[BeaverProductions 441]

The "kuru" effect doesn't quite work biologically correctly in game.

 

The Kuru tribe started to experience BSE/nvCJD because they had a cultural ritual of eating elders brains to pass on their knowledge to the tribe.  One individual would have developed the Kuru disease and passed it on through the ingestion of the infected material.  They would then have passed it on the the next generation who ate their elders brains.

 

In the game you are just eating another human who wouldn't have eaten any brains before and would have a statistically almost zero chance of passing anything on to the new cannibal.

[Xbow 362]

Since the new devblog mentions configuration work on "Prion Disesase" I am wondering if a mutated Prion Disease could be the cause for the outbreak in our scenario ?

 

 

Prion diseases are associated with the build up in the brain (and some other organs) of an abnormal or ‘rogue’ form of a naturally occurring cellular protein, known as the prion protein. The rogue protein results from a change in shape of the normal prion protein.  Once formed in the body these rogue proteins recruit and convert more of the normal prion protein into the abnormal form, setting off a kind of chain reaction which leads to a progressive accumulation of the rogue protein.  In the normal course of events, once they have served their purpose, prion proteins are broken down by enzymes in the body.  The abnormal prions however are more resistant to this process; so they accumulate and cause damage in the brain, which interferes with normal brain functioning.  All forms of the disease are thought to be associated with an incubation period.  This is a clinically 'silent phase' during which replication of the rogue protein is thought to be taking place.

The function of the normal form of the protein remains unclear, though it is thought they may possibly play a role in the transport of messages between specific brain cells (synaptic transmission).

 

Is this the idea/background Dean has spoken about long time ago ? A Prion ieasese like BSE but highly contagious and having some kind of "Rage Virus" effects caused by the brain damage ....

 

 

for me this sounds really exciting   :) 

Your theory is of course absolutely plausible and I like that the question is being brought forward by you.  However, I always imagined the disease to be closer to a form of meningitis where the Triune brain (lower brain) remains mostly undamaged and the upper brain is heavily damaged by the disease. If you survive the plague you become a zombie like creature. So the subject is left with only the Limbic system and the Reptilian brain.and is controlled by violent reptilian impulses that are the primary source of our survival instincts.  

 

 

 

Have some beans! :beans: 

Edited November 22, 2014 by Xbow

[Private Evans 1303]

That was the original backstory from the mod, though it could just be referring to the brain disease we get from eating human meat.

 

Here's the original intro found in the files of older versions of the mod

 

 

Could be that they want to link the cannibalism brain disease to the infection. would explain why they suddenly stopped calling it Kuru.

 

 

Oh thx played the mod nearly right from the start but never noticed this :D  However I think Kuru is called brain disease in the game files now ...prion disesae seems to be something new.

[Private Evans 1303]

The "kuru" effect doesn't quite work biologically correctly in game.

 

The Kuru tribe started to experience BSE/nvCJD because they had a cultural ritual of eating elders brains to pass on their knowledge to the tribe.  One individual would have developed the Kuru disease and passed it on through the ingestion of the infected material.  They would then have passed it on the the next generation who ate their elders brains.

 

In the game you are just eating another human who wouldn't have eaten any brains before and would have a statistically almost zero chance of passing anything on to the new cannibal.

 

 

In this case it is all more about gameplay and immersion and not so much realism. 

[FrostyKush 44]

Kuru is a prion disease by the way guys. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/prions/ 

 

Human Prion Diseases

• Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
• Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)
• Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome
• Fatal Familial Insomnia
• Kuru

[BeaverProductions 441]

In this case it is all more about gameplay and immersion and not so much realism. 

To make it more "real" they should implement the system that if you eat someone who has never eaten another player before, your fine.  But if you eat a player who was a cannibal, you have a chance of getting the disease.

 

Not perfectly like real life but it would be interesting.