Researchers uncover new characteristics of Zika-related birth defects

In a new study recently published in Scientific Reports, researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (FL, USA) observed mice models at two different points in development in order to examine the differential effects of Zika virus. The two time points  observed were early postnatal development, when the brain is growing at its maximum rate, and at weaning, when brain growth is largely complete. "In early postnatal Zika-infected models some brain areas and cell types showed particularly large increases in apoptosis [programmed cell death] that we did not observe in older animals," explained joint lead author Hyeryun Choe (The Scripps Research...