Prions aren't even living. Prions don't do what they do to survive. It isn't like cancer which is somehow, very ironically, trying to survive. They are a simple mistake, a ghost in the machine of the programming of life. That somehow makes prions the scariest thing there is to me: the lack of a reason.
The existence of prions is a dead certain proof that creationists are full of bs. Prions are a fluke of nature that jams our biochemical machinery. The immune system in the eyes is down-regulated as a form of innate protection because uncontrolled inflammation could be devastation on the eyesight, so it's not that surprising that these suckers could hide out there.
Yes. But we want sanitization procedures that DON'T destroy our food as we cook it.
The general idea is that we cook our food to kill stuff, then we eat our food. But if our food is destroyed before its sanitized (ie: a Prion which can survive to 270C+), then the sanitization method simply won't work.