Researchers at Albert Einstien College of Medicine discovered the secret to the gene's success. The compound is also capable of attacking many disease-causing viruses. Read: Genes that separate humans from apes identified says study The research found that the compound called ddhCTP which disrupts the replication machinery of Zika virus. Researchers had proposed several theories for how viperin exerts its anti-viral effects but precisely how it acted was a mystery. The current study reveals that viperin catalyzes the conversion of a nucleotide called CTP (cytidine triphosphate) into a structurally similar compound or analog: the nucleotide ddhCTP--a previously undescribed molecule that sabotages
