Compound previously used as
antibiotic
Researchers from a southeastern Spanish university
announced the discovery of a molecule that could be used as a potential drug to
fight the effects of a Zika virus infection.
In a statement on Saturday, the San Antonio
Catholic University of Murcia said that scientists belonging to its
Bioinformatics and High-Performance Computing research group had found that a
compound previously used as an antibiotic countered the symptoms of the
mosquito-borne disease, Efe news reported.
“It’s a drug that had been withdrawn from the
market because it had lost its potency as an antibiotic, but we know it can be
administered to humans,” said Jose Pedro Ceron, a member of the research team.
The molecular structure of the proteins involved in
the Zika virus’ replication process was first described only a year ago.
Source: THE HINDU-24th July,2017
