Search For More Effective Tuberculosis Drugs.

According to a report from the Howard Hughes Medical; Institute Rajesh Gokhale has created a compound in his lab in India that stops tuberculosis in its tracks. In a test tube, the molecule hits four of the bacterium's crucial metabolic pathways at the same time, weakening and ultimately destroying the pathogen. While a drug based on Gokhale's ideas is still years away from human testing, it offers a measure of hope that researchers may one day have more modern pharmaceutical "weapons" that can slow down the tuberculosis (TB) pathogen's relentless assault. According to the World Health Organization, TB remains one of the world's top-ten leading causes of death, killing nearly two million people each year. In Gokhale's native India, it kills roughly 1,000 people each day.