Scientists around the world are collaborating in the fight against COVID-19, but other diseases are getting less attention. With fatal consequences: In Mexico, tuberculosis is making a comeback due to is a shortage of the BCG vaccine.
Phanie/Alamy
Ancient DNA reveals that people of European ancestry have lost a gene variant linked to tuberculosis (TB) susceptibility over centuries.
TB is one of the world’s deadliest diseases and is caused by the
Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. People whose DNA contains two copies of a genetic variant called P1104A are more likely to develop symptoms of TB after being infected with the bacterium.
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To trace the frequency of P1104A over time, Gaspard Kerner at the Pasteur Institute in France and his team analysed modern human DNA from around the world and compared it with more than 1000 samples of ancient DNA from Europeans from the past 10,000 years.
The trust held a briefing on Tuesday about the payment process and the work that had been done since it was formally constituted in February last year.
Thousands of Human Skeletons Show Us The Evolutionary War Between Man And Disease
28 FEBRUARY 2021
As the world wrestles with a global pandemic, a study of tens of thousands of ancient skeletons has revealed how the human body evolves to fight disease, and how the diseases also evolve to become less deadly over time. Its conclusions could teach experts more about how we ll adapt to cope with diseases in the future.
The researchers behind the new study say that it shows how germs mutate to replicate and ensure survival across as many human hosts as possible – but that this behaviour also then reduces the severity of the disease over time. In the end, the harmful microorganisms or pathogens end up reaching a sort of truce with the human body.
New biological antibiotics can beat tuberculosis
This marks the first time that researchers have managed to develop a ‘biological antibiotic’ from human antibodies.
Dr. Natalia Freund in her lab. Photo courtesy of Tel Aviv University
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have demonstrated in laboratory mice that monoclonal antibodies can be substituted for antibiotics to hinder the growth of tuberculosis germs.
It’s estimated that around a quarter of the world’s population is infected by tuberculosis. In Israel, there are about 200 cases a year. Antibiotics are the usual course of treatment, but antibiotic-resistant strains of tuberculosis are now as high as 40 percent in some countries.