Besides the limited efficacy of the non-opioid drug flupirtine in contrasting cognitive decline in CJD patients, by virtue of antiapoptotic activity (Otto et al., 2004), most of the therapeutic approaches so far evaluated for human TSEs were directed to contrast PrPC misfolding by preventing its interaction with PrPSc templates. The gene discussed is PRNP; the disease is Creutzfeldt Jacob disease.