Scientists from the University of Central Florida and Nemours Children's Hospital say the zika virus may help kill a form of childhood cancer.
According to the researchers, neuroblastoma cells exposed to the zika virus in the laboratory died after being infected.
Neuroblastoma is a form of childhood cancer; a cancer of nerve cells outside the brain.
Scientists say the zika virus may work against the cancer by attacking a protein in the cancer cells that is susceptible being killed by the virus.
The exact mechanisms, or whether other factors may be at work here, are not yet known.
But the science teams say they have part of the answer.
More research is needed, they say, before they can tell whether of not they are on the road to a promising new therapy.