An international research team that included Dr. Kim Seung-taek of Yonsei University’s College of Medicine recently discovered the mechanism responsible for the replication and transmission of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) between mother and child during pregnancy.  The results of the research were published October 27 in the online version of Nature Medicine (IF 24), and the article is entitled “Loss of immune escape mutations during persistent HCV infection in pregnancy enhances replication of vertically transmitted viruses.”  Along with Dr. Kim, the research team included ProfessorsKevin L. McKnight and Stanley M. Lemon from the University of North Carolina, Professors Jonathan R. Honegger,Christopher M. Walker, and Mona R. Prasad from the Ohio State University School of Medicine, and Aryn A. Price and ArashGrakoui from the Emory University School of Medicine.