Do Mice Speed Up Zika Drug Development?

Local Editor

Texas scientists found a genetically engineered mouse that will allow researchers to test experimental compounds against the Zika virus, a step that could speed up the development of drugs and vaccines.

Meanwhile, researchers need to be able to test experimental drugs on mice before trying them on humans.

However, garden variety lab mice don't respond to Zika the way humans do, said Shannan Rossi, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and lead author of a study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

In other words, normal mice don't get sick after being infected with Zika, Rossi said, which means that testing potential drugs on them doesn't work.

But Rossi and her colleagues were able to find a type of genetically engineered mouse that does become sick when infected with Zika. These mice, which have been used in research labs for years, have been altered so that their immune systems don't mount the usual, early defense against viruses that's critical to preventing disease.

When researchers injected young genetically altered mice with Zika, the animals became lethargic, lost weight and died within six days. Older mice became ill but didn't always develop infection, and they eventually recovered, according to the study.

Researchers around the country have been eager to test potential drugs against Zika. Doctors at the University of Texas Medical Branch are already doing preliminary testing of an antiviral drug originally developed against a related disease, called dengue.

Once drugs or vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in lab mice, their developers can apply for permission from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct to small studies in humans.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team