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As the Zika virus continues its spread, infecting people in more than 50 countries and threatening fetal development in pregnant women, scientists have been racing to develop an effective vaccine for the disease. Federal researchers on Wednesday announced a milestone in that effort: their first clinical trial in humans. The trial will involve at least 80 healthy volunteers between ages 18 and 35 at three locations around the United States, including at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda. (Dennis, 8/3)

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health federal research agency, said its early-stage clinical trial will involve at least 80 healthy volunteers ages 18 to 35 at three study sites. It said the trial will evaluate the experimental DNA-based vaccine's safety and ability to elicit an immune system response. (Dunham, 8/3)

With the DNA vaccine, a piece of genetic code is injected into the arm. The DNA produces proteins that can galvanize the immune system to identify and attack the virus if it tries to infect a person in the future. DNA vaccines are a new focus in vaccine development, but none has been approved for use by US regulators so far. In some ways, they are easier to develop and could come with fewer risks than vaccines made from inactivated forms of the virus, Fauci said. (Joseph, 8/3)