Tunnel-building virus: How Zika transmits from mother to fetus

A team of researchers from Penn State and Baylor College of Medicine found that the Zika virus builds tiny tunnels, called tunneling nanotubes, to stealthily transport material needed to infect nearby cells, including in placental cells — which is one way the virus transmits from mother to fetus during pregnancy. The team also demonstrated, for the first time, that one specific Zika protein is responsible for the formation of the nanotubes.