Prion 2005: Between Fundamentals and Society's Needs.

Prion diseases for the most part affect individuals older than 60 years of age and share features with other diseases characterized by protein deposits in the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The international conference "Prion 2005: Between Fundamentals and Society's Needs," organized by the German Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Research Platform, aimed to integrate and coordinate the research efforts of participants to better achieve prevention, treatment, control, and management of prion diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and fatal familial insomnia in humans. Several main topics were discussed, such as the molecular characteristics of prion strains, the cell biology of cellular and pathogenic forms of the prion proteins, the pathogenesis of the diseases they cause, emerging problems, and promising approaches for therapy and new diagnostic tools. The presentations at the Prion 2005 conference provided new insights in both basic and applied research, which will have broad implications for society's needs.