Few Mutations Divide Some Drug-Resistant TB Strains

摘要

The first genome analysis of an extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) strain has found that only a small number of mutations distinguish it from a less drug-resistant strain and a drug-sensitive one. That means that clarifying the molecular basis of TB drug resistance might not be as difficult as some had expected, say the researchers from the Broad Institute and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Other scientists, although welcoming the new data, say it is too soon to tell.