1997 nobel prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to the american scientist stanley b prusiner for his discovery of an entirely new genre of disease - causing agents and the elucidation of the underlying principles of their mode of action 1997年的诺贝尔医学或生理学奖授予了美国科学家斯坦利?普鲁斯纳,因为他发现了一种新的致病因子,这种致病因子被称为朊蛋白( prion )该缩写名来自全称‘蛋白质感染颗粒’ 。