Question

Are prions microbes?

Answer 1

Microbes:

1. They are organisms that are too small to be viewed with naked eyes. They are visible under a microscope.
2. Example- fungi, bacteria, etc.

Prions:

1. They are proteinaceous infectious particles.
2. They cause several neurodegenerative diseases in mammals, eg- Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.
3. They are non-living, unlike other pathogens.
4. They do not contain nucleic acids like DNA or RNA or any cellular structure.
5. Therefore, they are not considered microbes.