Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas, developed mutant rotavirus to study the development of viroplasms or the beginning stages of viral assembly. Rotavirus is highly infectious, causing diarrhea and causing over 215,000 deaths of infants and children worldwide. Scientists tested a sample of the rotavirus containing NSP2 and coupled it with a mutated 313 amino acid using a reverse genetics system, forming a phosphomimetic mutation. Researchers can now use this mutant rotavirus to continue examining the series of events leading to viroplasm development, including unlocking a mystery in cell biology about how lipid droplets appear.