Science profs host public for coffee, ideas

POTSDAM — Clarkson University's first Science Cafe series is bringing professors and the public together over a cup of coffee.

In an informal setting hearkening back to Enlightenment-era salons, scientists gather to present ideas and answer questions. It's an idea that Daniel ben-Avraham, a Clarkson physics professor, first picked up from a colleague in Florence, Italy.

"People who pay for a university education obviously have access to these kinds of talks. This is for the corner grocer, the layperson," Mr. ben-Avraham said. "The cafe sort of disarms scientists, so they're not so scary to the public. They're more approachable."

People of all ages pulled up a cup of joe last week to listen to Edward G. Moczydlowski, chairman of the university's biology department, describe the series of disease mysteries that eventually led to the discovery of prions.

"This has all the elements of a good mystery. It's a fascinating story of biological discoveries and diseases that are weird, bizarre and horrific in nature," Mr. Moczydlowski said.

The professor described a series of transmissible degenerative brain diseases that manifested in both animals and humans — and befuddled the experts. Among them were kuru, which was endemic among the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and a rare disorder called fatal familial insomnia.

There also seemed to be ties to conditions found in animals, namely scrapie in sheep, and mad cow disease.

In addition to sharing symptoms that pointed to a brain disorder, some of the diseases shared another trait — they seemed to be caused in part by the ingestion of infected meat.

The Fore tribe, for instance, was found to engage in cannibalistic rituals after members of the tribe died. Women and children who ate parts of the deceased persons' brains were more stricken by the fatal kuru disease.

And mad-cow disease — also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy — spread quickly throughout Great Britain in the 1980s when discarded meat was turned into protein patties and fed back to cattle herds.

"They figured, it's good meat, why waste it?" Mr. Moczydlowski told the audience. "That's a theme that continued to play out."

Finally, two Nobel Prize winners found the infectious agent at the source of the diseases — a misfolded protein present in many mammals' DNA. Prions act normally as antioxidants, but they have an infectious form that forms plaques in the central nervous system, leaving "holes" in brain and spine tissue.

"This turned infectious disease theory on its head," Mr. Moczydlowski said, before being presented with a green Science Cafe mug.

Future topics include "Size Matters: Life in the St. Lawrence River," "The Rule of 1000 Determines our Exposure to Environmental Pollutants" and "Coffee, Gossip and Math."

"It's fun. I actually enjoy looking at other people's reactions to these topics. They're so curious to ask questions," said Takashi Nishikawa, an assistant professor of mathematics at Clarkson.