prions are infectious by. their effect on normal versions of protein. Sterilizing prions therefore involves the denaturation of the protein to a state where the molecule is no longer able to induce the abnormal folding of normal proteins.rion propagation/reproduction. by transmitting a mis-folded protein state; as with viruses the protein itself does not self-replicate, rather it induces existing polypeptides in the host organism to take on the rogue form.