How did Zika virus acquire the ability to infect the brain and reproductive tissue to cause its characteristic disease? The answer may lie in a newly observed ability of the virus to use a host cell’s own defense mechanisms as a disguise. A team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have published new research that shows the Zika virus evolved to use a host cellular enzyme for its own invasion, potentially explaining the mechanism by which the virus efficiently infects the brain and reproductive tissues, a potential explanation for how the Zika virus causes congenital neurological disorders like microcephaly, found in the newborns of infected mothers.