IT'S THE same virus that has spread fear across South America in the past two years, but in the US scientists have hopes it might be used to treat brain cancer.
Zika virus - the mosquito-born affliction that has caused countless birth defects - might be a new weapon in the treatment of hard-to-treat tumours.
According to the BBC, scientists have used Zika injections to shrink aggressive tumours in mice.
Though human trials are a long way off, teams from the Washington University and the University of California San Diego schools of medicine have begun modifying the virus in the hope of creating a tame version of Zika.
Promising trials in mice and in donated human tissue have shown Zika can kill aggressive cancer cells without harming other brain tissue.
A nine-year-old boy in Turkey has had a close brush with death after biting down on a hot-dog that stopped his heart.
Doctors in Istanbul report the boy suffered a near-fatal heart attack and had to be resuscitated after his frankfurter encounter.
Though now fully recovered, the boy has been fitted with a cardiac defibrillator implant and has the hot dog to thank for revealing a life threatening condition.
According to CBS News, the boy had gagged slightly as he wolfed on the hot-dog, activating the vagus nerve which serves the heart, in turn triggering an irregular heart rhythm.
He has been diagnosed with Brugada syndrome, and so too has his brother who was later tested as a precaution.
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