Tuberculosis News and Research

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Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection caused by a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or talks. If you think you have been exposed, you should go to your doctor for tests as soon as possible. You are more likely to get TB if you have a weak immune system.

AutoPLP helps detect mutating pathogenic variants quickly and accurately

As we now know from our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, the microbes responsible for some infections can rapidly mutate into variants that evade detection and treatment.

16 Feb 2023

Study reveals how two proteins enable drug-resistant MRSA bacterium to secrete toxins

Antimicrobial resistance represents one of the top 10 global public health threats according to the World Health Organization, and scientists have been scrambling to find new tools to cure the most deadly drug-resistant infections.

14 Feb 2023

Clinically approved fungal vaccine protects against fungal infections

A new vaccine developed by the University of Georgia might be the first clinically approved immunization to safeguard against invasive fungal infections, which are becoming more common as antifungal drug resistance grows.

From University of Georgia 1 Feb 2023

Novel chemical tool reveals how bacteria adapt to the host environment

A research team guided by Professor Xiang David Li of The University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) Department of Chemistry created a new chemical tool to unveil how bacteria adjust to the host environment and control host cells.

1 Feb 2023

Evolution of mint plants' chemistry could lead to new medicines, pesticides

The mint family of herbs, which includes sage, rosemary, basil, and even woody plants like teak, offers an invigorating jolt to our senses of smell and taste.

27 Jan 2023

Detecting the extent of natural selection over time

Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, the CNRS, and the Collège de France researchers have employed paleogenomics to trace 10,000 years of human immune system evolution. They examined the genomes of over 2,800 individuals who lived in Europe over the past 10 millennia.

From Institut Pasteur 18 Jan 2023

New DNA analysis leads to first accurate tuberculosis genome identification

A novel genome assembly tool that has been created by researchers could lead to the creation of fresh antibiotics for the bacterial infections that cause tuberculosis and other diseases.

From Rutgers University 20 Dec 2022

Delicate strategy employed by pathogens to suppress pyroptosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), continues to be a major infectious threat to global public health.

18 Oct 2022

Researchers discover antibiotic resistance genes in M. tuberculosis

More than 10,000 different Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria isolated from 23 different countries were subjected to a thorough investigation, which uncovered new genes linked to resistance to 13 first- and second-line novel and repurposed medicines.

11 Aug 2022

Genetic mutations allow great development of TB-causing bacteria

According to a study published today in eLife, scientists found how the bacterium that induces tuberculosis (TB) could quickly adapt in response to new environments.

27 Jun 2022

Researchers discover a way for detecting resistance-encoding genes in bacteria

Chalmers University of Technology researchers have devised a method for detecting certain bacterial genes that encode resistance using conventional microscopes, which are already used to diagnose TB in low-income countries.

27 Jun 2022

Study discovers new antibiotics effective against drug-resistant tuberculosis

Every year, 1.5 million people die from infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Antibiotics are available to treat tuberculosis, but the bacteria has evolved multi-drug resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and fully drug-resistant (TDR) strains in recent years.

1 Jun 2022

Research shows how current drugs impact bacterial physiology

Tuberculosis is a stubborn disease caused by even more stubborn bacteria. While many bacterial infections clear up within days of taking antibiotics, TB can take up to six months to clear up and, in some cases, never leave the human body. In 2020, it claimed 1.5 million lives, second only to COVID-19 in terms of infectious disease deaths.

1 Jun 2022

Researchers analyze the first-ever effectively sequenced the Pompeiian human genome

A study released this week in Scientific Reports presents the first effectively sequenced human genome from a person who perished in Pompeii, Italy, after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Only limited lengths of mitochondrial DNA from human and animal remains from Pompeii had previously been sequenced.

30 May 2022

Scientists detect rare genetic signs of drug-resistant tuberculosis with the aim to stop disease progression

Many people believe tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of the past. Nonetheless, it claims over a million lives each year. Furthermore, the problem is escalating as Mycobacterium tuberculosis—the pathogen that causes tuberculosis develops resistance to the antibiotics used to treat the disease.

12 May 2022

Discovery could help break the cycle of rapid transmission of TB

Two strains of the bacterium causing tuberculosis have only minor genetic differences but attack the lungs in completely different fashion, according to Rutgers researchers.

18 Apr 2022

Rockefeller scientists reveal how a narrow-spectrum antibiotic selectively targets C. diff

Most antibiotics are double-edged swords. Besides killing the pathogen they are prescribed for, they also decimate beneficial bacteria and change the composition of the gut microbiome.

7 Apr 2022

Researchers discover a unique technique to fight hospital-borne disease

A study team developed an early-stage therapy that sabotages the pump and restores antibiotic efficiency by disclosing the structure of a protein needed by bacteria to pump out antibiotics.

From New York University (NYU) 4 Apr 2022

Tuberculosis causes early epigenetic aging in cells, study finds

In the current study, scientists at Baylor College of Medicine identified that the cells of humans and animals that recovered from tuberculosis had prematurely aged up to 12 to 14 years.

25 Mar 2022

Improving the long-term effectiveness of TB vaccine in mice

Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute report this week in the Journal of Immunology.

14 Mar 2022