Possible human trials of Zika vaccine by September

(Photo via Caribbean360)

TEXAS, United States, Thursday May 19, 2016 – Scientists have for the first time cloned the Zika virus, an important development towards fast-tracking a vaccine against the disease.

The genetically engineered copy is a replica of the strain that is spreading across Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing an increase in microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.

Until now, researchers had known the structure of Zika, but they had not replicated it – at least not this strain, which is carried by mosquitoes but can also be sexually transmitted.

A team from the The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was able to genetically engineer Zika, so researchers can now make the virus in test tubes and on Petri dishes, according to a study published this week in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

Read more:Caribbean360