Science can rarely be a successful individual effort. The variety and breadth of the various fields requires cooperation. Sometimes, though, cooperation is not used and it takes one scientist to cohect the research of others, assemble it, publish it and then take credit for it. The publication of such research can be beneficial, offering new insights into old problems, yielding academic awards, and sometimes inspiring abject fear m a populace not possessing the scientific training required to objectively examine the data presented. Chief amongst examples of the aforementioned scenario is that of the study of a odd contagion, first identified as causing kuru, a neurological disorder among the Fore people of New Guinea.

There were many important discoveries after Carleton Gajdusek first discovered kuru and the book guides the reader through this process of assembling the pieces that would eventually lead to a tentative understanding of spongiform encephalopathies. The method the book utilizes to simply the scientific process by providing a page every few chapters listing the most relevant connections.

One important point not as stressed by the book is that a different individual held each piece of the puzzle, individuals who were not always willing to work together amicably. The first scientist involved with the hunt for kuru's cause was Carleton Gajdusek. Gajdusek had an interest in the human tragedy affecting the Fore people, but did not have the patience to conduct the required level of scientific research into the causes of the disease. He, however, did find someone willing to conduct the research for him.

Bill Hadlow was Gajdusek's choice to conduct the laboratory work. He enjoyed a great deal of contact Gajdusek, who was usually with the Fore, as did several other researchers. Gajdusek was the driving force behind much of the research conducted and correlated much of the research data.

The first pieces of Gajdusek's puzzle came quickly. Parallels were drawn between the obscure kuru and two diseases that are more, common. The first was Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which occurred sporadically in about one human out of one million. The other disease was a sheep disorder known to the Scottish for centuries of centuries, which caused similar symptoms.

The next two elements proved that whatever was causing these diseases could cross species barriers. One element came from Bill Hadlow, who successfully transmitted diseases to primates in his lab. The other from mink, which had died from several outbreaks of some unknown disease, the source of which was deduced to be meat from cattle which had died under circumstances classifying them unfit for human consumption. Later experiments would go on to expand the list of animals that were susceptible and could transmit diseases in their tissues.

Another scientist working toward on finding the cause of scrapie was Patricia Merz. She used an electron microscope to examine brain tissue. What she saw looked like sticks, bundles of sticks. These sticks she called scrapie-associated fibrils. She saw an association between these formations and amyloid plaques, a phenomena long associated with spongiform encephalopathies.

Dr. Stanley Prusiner was another scientist working toward the agent responsible for spongiform encephalopathies. He also hoped to win a Nobel Prize from his work. He was the most headstrong of all the researchers. He believed that only a protein was responsible for scrapie and kuru, and he defended this view vivaciously. In one of his papers, he gave the infectious agent a name: prion. This name was a shortened form of proteinaceous infectious particles. The name would only be applicable if only a protein caused the disease, if any other causes were found, Prusiner's work would quickly be forgotten. He continued to work on the assumption that he was looking for a protein. He eventually found what he was looking for and dubbed it Prion Protein, or PrP. This PrP was discovered in the form of rod shaped masses, much like those discovered by Patricia Merz Prusiner has never admitted that what he discovered was simply Patricia Merz's scrapie-associated fibrils, even after tests have proven them identical.

Prusiner finally won his Nobel Prize for his hard work. Patricia Merz won nothing for hers. Prusiner was determined that he was correct, his research was vital, and that he was going to win a Nobel Prize.

The British government had to deal with the effects of their practices involving feeding the processed remains of dead livestock to other livestock. Many of the animals disposed of in this way include animals that died of mysterious causes. If this mysterious cause was a form of scrapie in cattle, later named bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, then this process would transmit and concentrate the infectious agent. The British government had long supported this practice, so when evidence that cattle were becoming sick with a scrapie-like disease, they had a difficult time telling the British public that they had undoubtedly and unwittingly been eating some of these infected animals. The public was understandably horrified.

Eventually cases of the disease would inevitably begin appearing in humans. When it did the British named it nvCJD since it manifested as a new variation on the pattern of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, which had long been known. The media, nonetheless, found a more sensationalistic name: mad-cow disease. Not all fears were unfounded, mostly just overblown, as shown in a series of press releases from the British Ministry of Health. The British quickly implemented measures to ensure the safety of their supply of blood products. British beef quickly became unacceptable. Restaurants in England quickly found international suppliers of beef and the USDA quickly banned the importing of British beef and beef products into America. This did not completely quell American's fears about their own beef supplies being contaminated.

Generally, in the beginning information regarding any of the spongiform encephalopathies was privy, or even of interest, to scientists. When the public was finally made aware of the existence of these extremely disturbing brain disorders, the reactions were not favorable. Foremost amongst the extreme reactions stemmed from an episode of 0 rah on "mad cow disease" in which Oprah Winfrey made the personal statement that she will no longer eat beef The episode and its effects played out much like the sensationalistic episode Oprah had on silicone breast implants. Given Oprah's zealous following of fans, it was not surprising that many of her viewers likewise decided to stop consuming beef. Guests on the episode, as indicated on a website offering a transcript of the episode, included Howard Lyman, executive director of Humane Society's Eating with Conscience, Gary Weber, a representative of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Dr. Will Hueston, representing the United States Department of Agriculture.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association took offense to her statement, and the  10% drop in the price of beef following the episode, and sued her. Oprah turned the entire trial into a public relations fiasco. Having already demonstrated the ability to turn a book into a bestseller simply by mentioning it on her show, it was not surprising that the public's sentiment was with her.