Et Cetera

One of modern medicine's disheartening setbacks has been the emergence of TB strains that are resistant to standard medication. In last week's Nature, researchers from Hammersmith Hospital in London and from the Pasteur Institute in Paris report they have uncovered the genetic reason behind this dangerous trend. They have discovered that common forms of the TB bacterium bear a gene that makes it susceptible to the antibiotic isoniazid -- a gene that is missing in drug-resistant strains. The finding could lead to improved diagnostic tests that will help doctors treat people with drug-resistant TB before they can pass the infection on to others.