All in your genes?

Updated on: Monday, December 26, 2011

Tuberculosis (TB) remains in epidemic proportions across the world, especially in India where the spread of the disease has seen alarming levels. In a recent development, academics from the School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham are joining forces with peers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore in a research partnership focused on tackling TB.

"Although there has been a lot of work on the role of genetic pre-disposition to TB, these studies are at a nascent stage. Additionally , it is difficult to pin down a single causative factor for a high burden in a geographical location as this depends on a number of factors and can also be complicated by socio-economic factors," says Apoorva Bhatt, lecturer in molecular microbiology, University of Birmingham and a part of the research team, about the high instances of the disease in the Indian subcontinent and about a possible predisposition of people for the disease.

PREVENTIVE METHODS

Techniques used to combat the disease, including vaccination, therapeutic drugs and diagnosis methods have largely remained unchanged. A classic anti-TB drug regimen includes two months of treatment with a cocktail of four drugs, followed by four months with two drugs.

Directly observed treatment-short course (DOTS) is central to the national TB control strategy. This includes the use of sputum-smear microscopy tests to diagnose disease in patients, direct observation of the drug treatment (for at least two months), a definite supply of drugs, and standardised reporting and recording of cases and outcomes of treatment regimes.

KEY AREAS

The joint team aims at addressing four key areas of TB biology to gain a deeper understanding of the disease. The areas include studying how the 'packaging' of DNA in the TB bacillus by special proteins affects the expression of its genes; developing novel technologies to study components of the TB bacillus that help it sense the environment; evaluation of a new diagnostic tool based on spectroscopic detection of a lipid biomarker, and investigating the potential interplay between an important central metabolic pathway of the bacterium and the composition of the cell envelope (virulence determinant) of the causative bacterium, mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bhatt says, "The expertise at both institutions is complementary and we envisage that these collaborative ventures will allow the Birmingham and Bangalore labs to tap into research strengths of both institutions and eventually facilitate a bidirectional flow of research expertise." The project is funded by the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) as part of the Innovation Partnerships strand.

Times of India

All in your genes?

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