000 die per year from the late sequelae liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis B was recognized as a disease in ancient times, but its etiologic agent was only recently
The hypothesis was already formulated by J. S. Griffith [13] that the pathogen of a spongiform encephalopathy (scrapie in sheep) was infectious but would not have any nucleic acid, which Stanley Prusiner was later able to prove with his prion theory. Discovery of the Dane particle AuAg, ...