The Eif2ak2 gene product PKR has been shown to be capable of phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), a translational controller which has been proposed to play a key role in the progression of neurodegeneration in models of prion disease (Moreno et al., 2012; Moreno et al., 2013). Here, EIF2AK2 is linked to prion disease.