p 3 r 1 i 1 o 1 n 1
5 letters · 7 points in Scrabble
Meaning
noun (microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system
originFrom (a reordering of) the initial letters of proteinaceous infectious particle. Coined by American neurologist and biochemist Stanley B. Prusiner in 1982.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0