Scientists first cloned virus zika

Scientists first cloned the zika virus to create a vaccine against this terrible disease.

The virus, transmitted through mosquito bites and sexually transmitted have already captured half the world. The disease is very dangerous for pregnant women, it causes the fetus to the microcephaly. Children are born with an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.

The team from the University of Texas medical branch in Galveston is working with genetic engineering. So now the virus in examine tubes, and by using a Petri dish, according to a study (PDF) released Monday.

Lead author Pei-Yun Shi said his team is using genetic engineering has begun to develop a vaccine. Scientists have infected mosquitoes and mice cloned virus and now watch the consequences of this action.

If scientists can adapt the virus to make safe vaccines, animal testing could begin in the near future, and clinical trials could begin next year. Some scientists have been researching the virus with the help of experiments on mice to learn more about how it behaves and how it leads to devastating neurological consequences. There is hope that this is the starting point for the development of treatment and vaccines.

"The virus zika took us all by surprise, and one of the difficulties in developing preventive measures is the lack of available tools to test the vaccine. The national Institute of Allergy and infectious diseases has created a trial vaccine for such viruses that can be used as a starting point for vaccine Zeke. The Institute has carried out tests on mice and aims to conduct clinical trials in 2017.

The world health organization says that Zeke is also associated with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder in which a person's own immune system damages nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and, in some cases, paralysis.

sections: Society, World News