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theweaselkingFor the first time in nearly 40 years, scientists have produced a drug that in lab tests appears to cure tuberculosis, a disease that is one of the world's worst killers.
The antibiotic, called R207910, was developed by a team of Johnson & Johnson scientists who worked quietly on the project for a decade in locales ranging from Raritan, N.J., to Beerse, Belgium.
They unveiled the patented work last night in an electronic edition of Science magazine. The compound, which appears to work better and faster than existing treatments, acts like a switch to cut off the energy supply of the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis, which kills 2 million people annually, is surpassed only by AIDS as the most lethal infectious disease. It is tied inextricably to the AIDS epidemic, erupting in immune-compromised AIDS patients and often killing them before the AIDS virus does. At least 11 million adults are infected with both pathogens
The antibiotic, called R207910, was developed by a team of Johnson & Johnson scientists who worked quietly on the project for a decade in locales ranging from Raritan, N.J., to Beerse, Belgium.
They unveiled the patented work last night in an electronic edition of Science magazine. The compound, which appears to work better and faster than existing treatments, acts like a switch to cut off the energy supply of the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis, which kills 2 million people annually, is surpassed only by AIDS as the most lethal infectious disease. It is tied inextricably to the AIDS epidemic, erupting in immune-compromised AIDS patients and often killing them before the AIDS virus does. At least 11 million adults are infected with both pathogens