Airborne tuberculosis bacteria may mutate as they dry, revealing a target to curb drug resistance
Researchers have discovered that tuberculosis bacteria can mutate and develop antibiotic resistance while drying out in the air. This finding identifies a new drug target, the Mfd gene, which could help prevent the spread of drug-resistant strains.
Why it matters
Understanding how TB evolves during transmission is critical for developing new medical strategies to combat a disease that kills over a million people annually.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source Scanning electron micrograph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause TB. Credit: NIAID Tuberculosis bacteria released into the air from infected individuals dry out to form infectious particles that are second only to measles in contagiousness. Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have discovered specific mechanisms that enable the bacteria not only to survive drying but also to generate mutations linked to antibiotic resistance. This suggests that transmission involves more than the passive movement of bacteria between people and may be a period during which the pathogen evolves.
Tuberculosis, a lung infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb), affects nearly 11 million people and causes roughly 1.2 million deaths globally each year.
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