July 8, 2008

 

Study reverses long-held beliefs on bovine TB

 
 

Results of a study suggest that Bovine Tuberculousis migrated from humans to cattle and not the reverse.

 

The latter is a long held belief overturned by researchers trying to decipher the origins and trajectory of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria responsible for TB,

 

The three researchers in Arizona State University (ASU)'s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Graduate student Luz-Andrea ''Lucha'' Pfister, associate professor Anne Stone in ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Michael Rosenberg, an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences, are trying to establish a credible evolutionary timeline for TB.

 

The research estimates that the evolutionary leap took place prior to the domestication of cows - more than 113,000 years ago - indicating that tuberculosis is a much older pathogen than previously believed.

 

This outcome supports that of the French Pasteur Institute's Cristina Gutierrez, an evolutionary mycobacteriologist whose work first cast doubt on the cattle-to-human TB link and its date range.

 

This summer, Pfister presented the results of the group's research at the annual meeting of the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution, in Barcelona.

 

Pfister said an accurate timeframe can help humans learn about the development between host and pathogen and aid in understanding the disease and the way it evolves.

 

The data generated can help scientists study this disease and formulate appropriate treatments, Pfister added.

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