Science history: Doctor hypothesizes that 'transmissible proteins' can cause disease, contradicting a 'central dogma' of molecular biology — April 9, 1982

A 3D model of a blue folded protein, looking like a series of coils and knots in front of a dark background.

Milestone: Prions identified

Date: April 9, 1982

Where: San Francisco

Who: Dr. Stanley Prusiner

On April 9, 1982, a doctor at the University of California, San Francisco, published a paper in the journal Science showing that infectious proteins caused a degenerative nerve disease in sheep. In doing so, he transformed our understanding of how some diseases are transmitted.