CJD is a disease caused by a misfolding protein, called a prion. (PREE-on) Prion diseases are a group of rare and fatal brain diseases which occur in both humans and animals. In humans, it is known as CJD. Cows get BSE, which stands for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Deer and elk contract CWD, or chronic wasting disease. There is no cure or clinical diagnosis for CJD. There is no cure for any of the diseases in the prion family.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

What Would I Do with a Book About CJD?

Not that I have time to write a book about CJD if I don't even have time to make blog posts; Boston University keeps me busy. It's the kind of busy that made me want to lay by the pool a whole lot last week instead of keeping up my usual frenetic pace of working, schooling, and blogging. So I'm back now (and soon school will be as well) with a question: what on Earth would I do with a book about CJD?

Though it would make a good topic, how many people would really read a book about CJD? How on earth could this ever be marketed to anyone? Who would read this? What book publisher would take a risk on publishing something that only a small niche would be interested in reading? These are the questions I ask myself each day before tossing around the idea of just writing the book and then giving it a Creative Commons license.

Are there stories that need to be told? Absolutely. But how do I tell them? Which is the best way? That's what I've been thinking of this past week. Who wants to read a book on CJD? Could there be a more depressing book?