Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) -- Mayo Clinic researchers are working to develop a new vaccine to combat the Zika virus.

The latest edition of Mayo’s research magazine 'Discovery’s Edge' features an article about the efforts of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group to create an effective vaccine. It says the Mayo team is collaborating with the Butantan Institute in Brazil, which is described as the largest immunobiology lab in Latin America.

The article quotes Mayo vaccinologist Dr. Gregory Poland, who says the plan is to reverse engineer the virus and use the findings to develop a peptide based vaccine, which he says would be inexpensive, easy to transport and would not require refrigeration.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspects the mosquito-borne Zika virus is responsible for some serious birth defects that have been seen with increasing frequency and many parts of Latin America.

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