Mouse models show how Zika infects a fetus during pregnancy
Wednesday, May 11, 2016 - 18:21
in Biology & Nature
A cryo-electron microscopy image of the Zika virus structure. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) have established the first models of Zika virus transmission from a pregnant mouse to her fetus. The infected mice, described May 11 in Cell, demonstrate Zika virus invasion and damage to the placenta, and then infection of the mouse fetus, leading to many of the same conditions observed in human infants. The new mouse models can also be used as a tool to develop treatments or vaccines.