Zika

For the first time, abnormal brain development following a Zika infection during pregnancy has been documented experimentally in the offspring of a non-human primate.  

The researchers’ observations of how Zika virus arrested fetal brain formation in a pigtail macaque could provide a model for testing therapeutic interventions. 

The findings are reported Sept. 12 in Nature Medicine. Read the scientific paper.  

Scientists at the University of Washington and Kineta in Seattle have acquired samples of the Zika virus now exploding in more than 25 countries to conduct tests that could lead to antiviral compounds that can stop that bug — and other global pathogens.

Samples of Zika virus from the outbreak raging across Brazil and Latin America arrived at the University of Washington last month, where they were quickly locked in a biosafety freezer, awaiting research aimed at stopping the germ tied to growing numbers of devastating birth defects.