New weapons for tubercular war.Investigators are scrambling to defeat drug-resistant forms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the microbe microbe /mi·crobe/ (mi´krob) a microorganism, especially a pathogenic one such as a bacterium, protozoan, or fungus.micro´bialmicro´bic mi·crobe n. that causes tuberculosis. Now, two groups report potential new strategies in the Jan. 23 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. . Investigators from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., say they have added new genes to the bacterium used in the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis. The genes produce cytokines, compounds that may boost the vaccine-generated immune response. Researchers at the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research The Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (WFBR) is a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. The foundation was established as an independent research center under the name in Shrewsbury, Mass., announce they have learned how to prepare short DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. strands called antisense molecules so that an M. tuberculosis-like organism absorbs them. The strands can bind to and block the function of specific genes, thus killing the bacteria, even those resistant to traditional antibiotics. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion