Zika

Viruses are difficult to kill – most of the drugs and chemicals that do are also harmful to human health. But now, scientists have developed a new virucidal substance derived from sugar, making it deadly to a wide range of viruses but safe for us.

Scientists have now demonstrated a mosquito engineering technology that renders the biggest transmitter of the Zika virus largely immune to it, raising hopes of a new way to control the spread of it and other mosquito-borne diseases.

​If the mosquitoes in a given area start carrying viruses such as Zika or Dengue, then the sooner that local health authorities know, the better. And while existing mosquito-testing procedures take at least week to deliver results, a new biosensor does so in less than an hour.

We've already seen devices that quickly detect the Zika virus in human biological samples, providing health officials with an early warning of outbreaks. Now, however, an even earlier warning is possible, thanks to a system that quickly and cost-effectively detects the virus in mosquitoes.

For well over half a century, scientists have been working to harness the cell-destroying power of viruses in the battle against cancer. The latest addition to this arsenal comes from an unlikely source, the relatively new Zika virus, which could offer a new way to fight deadly brain cancers.

Offering hopes of complete eradication of polio, a team of scientists in the UK has created a synthetic polio vaccine that contains non-infectious virus particles that can be grown quickly and cheaply in a close relative of the tobacco plant.

Twenty million sterile male mosquitoes are set to be released across two neighborhoods in Fresno County, California. This will be the largest mosquito field study ever conducted in the US with an aim of curbing the population of the disease-carrying insect.​

Despite not getting the headlines it did last year, Zika remains an ongoing issue that needs addressing. A team from Sandia National Laboratories has developed a low-cost, portable device for quickly detecting Zika and similar viruses in a sample, driven by a smartphone app.

Scientists have discovered a Zika antibody that can potentially protect developing fetuses, probably the number-one victim of the disease.​

​​With the number of Zika infections in Florida on the rise and real concerns of the virus spreading to other parts of the country, governments are on the lookout for inventive ways to ramp up the response.

An inexpensive new device created by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania uses genetic material instead of antibodies to detect the Zika virus.

The Golden Goose Award honors federally funded scientific research that might seem "silly, odd, or obscure when first conducted, but has resulted in significant benefits to society." In this case of this year's winner, those benefits extend to battling the bugs that spread the Zika virus.