Scientists at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech are trying to clone cattle that are genetically incapable of developing mad cow disease, according to a report.

A calf that is "mad cow resistant" could be born as early as next year, but proving that the clones are immune to the deadly infection could take years, scientists said.

The research reportedly builds on previous studies that engineered mice resistant to a disease caused by misshapen prions, the naturally occurring proteins that cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy and several other brain-destroying infections, according to a press release.

Proteins are chains of amino acids that fold in upon themselves in predictable patterns and shapes that result from the bio-electrical relationships that exist between individual molecules, according to Dr. Will Eyestone .

Proteins normally "fold" in only one way. But when the prions are infected by pathogenic prions, they begin to "fold" in another way that leads to disease.

Pathogenic prions introduced from contaminated food sources interact with normal prions in the body and transform them into the lethal agents that eventually create the ""Swiss cheese-like" lesions in the brain, according to the statement.

The cattle cloning research is backed by a $300,000 federal grant.

The nation's first case of mad-cow disease was reported late last month.

Europe's beef market was devastated by an outbreak in the 1990s and more than 100 people were infected after eating contaminated beef products.

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