The biosignature of tuberculosis
(PhysOrg.com) -- The germ that causes tuberculosis is highly infectious, but not very effective: around two billion people throughout the world carry the pathogenic bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis - only one tenth of them, however, actually develop the disease following infection. Nobody knows who will fall ill, and who wont. Therefore, scientists have been looking for biological markers that will enable them to predict susceptibility to tuberculosis. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin have now discovered several candidates for such biomarkers. They compared the gene activity in tuberculosis patients and in individuals latently infected with the pathogen. According to their findings, tuberculosis infection can alter the activity of almost 2000 human genes. These include genes that regulate the activity of the immune system and control the suicide programme of immune cells.