GeoVax Labs Inc (GOVX)

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The ubiquitous caveat in stories about the Zika virus thus far: Despite the huge uptick of cases in the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil, and despite the verrrrry suspicious correlation of this uptick with the arrival of Zika in the country, we don’t know for certain that Zika causes microcephaly. The same goes for the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré, cases of which have also climbed in time with the Zika outbreak.
“More research is needed,” scientists and government officials have chorused, declaring a quest to get good science on the virus as quickly as possible. And it’s starting to show results.
A new study published Friday in Cell Stem Cell shows how Zika affects neural stem cells, which appear to be particularly vulnerable to the virus. This may be the mechanism by which Zika could cause microcephaly, a condition in which a baby is born with an unusually small head due to incomplete brain development.