What if prions were discovered before nucleic acids were discovered to be the method of reproduction? Could this happen? I know Scrapie was known before DNA was ever heard of, could the discovery of Prions in the early 1900s have retarded the advancement of investigation of Nucleic Acids and the discovery of the actual mechanism for inheritance considering Prions have no nucleic acids but are kind of 'pseudo-alive'. Could it even have delayed DNA research perhaps 25 to 50 years?
EDIT: DNA was definitively linked to reproduction in 1952. So that is the deadline for Prion research.
EDIT: DNA was definitively linked to reproduction in 1952. So that is the deadline for Prion research.