Scientists Tested Thousands of American Deer — And Found Something Nobody Expected

https://vernadiscovery.com The Comeback Files: get my guide to twelve American animals that came back from almost nothing, with the real counts and the sources. Bald eagles, elk, condors, wolves, and more. In parts of southwestern Wisconsin, up to half of the adult bucks carry a disease with no cure and no vaccine. For a hundred years, wildlife agencies managed America's white-tailed deer as one simple, uniform herd. Then scientists tested thousands of them, and the herd turned out to be something else entirely. Chronic wasting disease has now been confirmed in 37 states and 5 Canadian provinces. In this video you'll find out how a mystery in a Colorado research pen led to a genetic study of 5,701 deer, why a Minnesota study found culled deer were close relatives, and why a gene that slows the disease may not be the good news it sounds like. You'll also see how one infected deer can start a lasting outbreak in a computer model, how soil and even grass can carry the prion, and what scientists still do not know, including whether it can reach people. No human case has been confirmed. This video keeps what is documented separate from what is still unknown. In this video you'll learn: - How a 1978 microscope discovery identified a brand-new kind of disease - How the disease jumped from Colorado to Wisconsin, New York, and Arkansas - What 5,701 deer revealed about rivers, mountains, and highways dividing deer populations - Why a Minnesota study found culled deer were close relatives - The gene variant that slows chronic wasting disease, and why it is not a cure - Why prions can stay infectious in soil, and even travel through plants - What one infected deer can do in a computer model - What scientists still do not know, including whether it can reach people Topics: chronic wasting disease, white-tailed deer, prion disease, deer genetics, wildlife disease management, Minnesota DNR, deer population. Verna Discovery looks at what happened after the headline. Please subscribe for more like this! -Verna Chapters: 0:00 A doe in a Wisconsin field 0:51 The great American comeback story 1:30 A mystery in a Colorado research pen 2:46 How the disease spread across the country 3:38 What it looks like in Wisconsin 4:52 The genetic study that broke the map 5:56 A family, not a dot on a map 7:12 The gene that was supposed to be the answer 8:46 At least eleven different strains 9:27 Why the ground itself stays dangerous 10:50 What one infected deer can do 12:18 A much sharper genetic map 13:03 Can it reach people? 13:54 Three ways to read all of this 14:50 What scientists still do not know #ChronicWastingDisease #WhitetailDeer #WildlifeScience #DeerDisease