This is the structure of the ZIKV helicase in complex with RNA. Zika virus has now become a household word. It can cause microcephaly, a birth defect where a baby's head is smaller than usual. Additionally, it is associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder that could lead to paralysis and even death. However, how this microbe replicates in the infected cells remains a mystery. Now, an international team led by researchers from Tianjin University and Nankai University has unraveled the puzzle of how Zika virus replicates and published their finding in Springer's journal Protein & Cell.

Roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans) with a disabled eri-1 gene can lose their ability to control repetitive DNA. In the absence of eri-1, even two age-matched siblings can look dramatically different. Cancers arise in skin, muscle, liver or other types of tissue when one cell becomes different from its neighbors. Although biologists have learned a lot about how tissues form during development, very little is known about how two cells of the same tissue stay identical for an animal's entire lifetime.