Brains Scrambled in Test for Cow Disease in Sheep
A scientific study that suggested “mad cow disease” had spread to sheep has been scrapped after nearly five years because researchers were testing the wrong brains, the British government said.
Scientists who thought they were testing sheep brains were actually working with tissue from cattle, said professor Peter Smith, chairman of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee.
“It appears to have been a dreadful mistake,” he said.
The brain mix-up occurred when scientists collected brain material from both sheep and cattle for separate studies.
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