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The original was posted on /r/explainlikeimfive by /u/HorizonStarLight on 2023-10-06 20:57:25.

Nearly all organic material (like bacteria and viruses) is destroyed at temperatures above 60° Celsius. Some temperature resistant pathogens can survive slightly higher temperatures than this, but even the most hardy will be destroyed at temperatures above 150° Celsius.

But for prions these temperatures are hardly sufficient. They can survive being frozen, cooked, steamed, and even chemically treated with substances like formaldehyde and alcohol. Temperatures as high as 600° Celsius will not reliably kill them, and only in the 1000° Celsius range are they destroyed. At this temperatures, most metals will melt.

Why are prions so hard to destroy if they are chemically identical to the organic material inside our body already?