Joe Rogan Experience #2549 - Jared Diamond · Aired Sep 3, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
Prion diseases are not reliably destroyed by standard boiling or steam sterilization, often requiring temperatures near 900 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours.
The finding
What the evidence shows
It is true that ordinary boiling does not reliably destroy prions, and that is a real problem for sterilizing surgical tools. But the 900 degree Fahrenheit figure is far too high. CDC and WHO guidance calls for autoclaving at 121 to 134 degrees Celsius, about 250 to 273 degrees Fahrenheit, usually combined with a sodium hydroxide or bleach pretreatment, not temperatures anywhere near 900 degrees.
Read the supporting source · www.cdc.gov ↗Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that Prion diseases are not reliably destroyed by standard boiling or steam sterilization, often requiring temperatures near 900 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours?
Partly. The claim stretches what the evidence shows. It is true that ordinary boiling does not reliably destroy prions, and that is a real problem for sterilizing surgical tools. But the 900 degree Fahrenheit figure is far too high. Joe Rogan said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2549 - Jared Diamond, aired Sep 3, 2026, at 2:01:22. The supporting source is cdc.gov, linked below.
The context belongs here.
No separately verified on-air correction is recorded for this check. That is not a claim that nobody corrected it.
- Attribution
- Not independently confirmed in this record
- Editorial context review
- Not recorded; generated finding
- Coverage
- One selected claim from the episode
Revisions to this check
No dated revision is recorded here. Older checks may predate this log.
Challenge this finding or add context →Keep the evidence coming.
Follow new checks in your RSS reader, or catch up with the weekly briefing on the site.
Email signup is currently unavailable.
Prefer to catch up here? Read the weekly briefing.