Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences have shown, for the first time, how the genetic material of the Nipah virus replicates in infected cells. The virus can cause fatal encephalitis in humans. Using cryo-electron microscopy, the team led by Prof. Dr. Hauke Hillen was able to visualize the three-dimensional structure of the viral „copying machine“. These findings could contribute to the future development of antiviral drugs for the treatment of Nipah virus infections. The results of the study have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.