Earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that the mosquito-borne Zika virus causes severe birth defects, in particular microcephaly—a disorder characterized by an abnormally small head and a damaged brain.
While many scientists are working to understand more about Zika, Dr. Stephanie Bielas, assistant professor of human genetics, neuroscience, and cell and molecular biology at the University of Michigan Medical School, has focused her attention on understanding the mechanisms behind microcephaly.
Bielas and her team recently published two papers in the American Journal of Human Genetics that reveal new findings about a key protein involved in the process of human brain development.
