Biosecurity laboratory 'doubles efforts' to understand and combat TB

A biosecurity laboratory in Sydney has been making laboratory news in its push to understand and combat tuberculosis (TB).

The $1.2 million laboratory which opened in Sydney this week will be at the centre of the tuberculosis push, with researchers doubling their efforts to understand and combat the deadly bacterium, which lives inside two billion people worldwide and kills an estimated three people every minute.

Dr Bernadette Saunders, from Sydney's Centenary Institute, which is affiliated with the University of Sydney said: "We will use the new laboratory to develop a deep understanding of how the tuberculosis bacterium infects us and so successfully hides from our immune defences for decades."

The researchers will look for novel ways to combat TB, with potential drugs for treatment a possibility. The opening coincides with the 130 year anniversary of the discovery of the drug, which enabled massive public health, screening and vaccine programs. However, drug resistant strains are sill emerging, which makes this research all the more important.

Posted by Ben Evans