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Indian American Researcher's Landmark Discovery in TB Treatment
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 31 January 2013, 23:39 IST
Das studied the Idu-Mishimi community of Arunachal Pradesh in his study, where many suffer from the disease. Along with locating genetic material from bacteria inside the stem cells, Das and his team also found active bacteria from TB patients’ cells who had already been treated for the disease.
"We now need to learn how the bacteria find and infect this tiny population of stem cells, and what triggers it to reactivate years or decades after successful treatment of the disease," says Das.
Ashwini Khanna of Loknayak Hospital, Delhi, terms the research as 'being full of promise.' "This might propel further research and change the way TB is treated across the globe," he says.
Praveen Pandey, a pulmonologist with Escorts Hospital gives advice on the discovery and warns, "It may be possible to identify, isolate and kill TB bacteria even before they cause any problem; but there is also the risk of over-treatment. There could be a rush of people willing to be treated without any need for it."
Das had earlier come up with a breakthrough in cancer research, in the month of June. In a study led by him, at the Stanford University School of Medicine it was proved that in times of stress certain human embryonic stem cells produce molecules that benefit themselves along with the helping the nearby cells to survive. He was congratulated by UK scientist Dr Peter W Andrews, one of the two gurus of embryonic stem cell research, for his findings.
"We now need to learn how the bacteria find and infect this tiny population of stem cells, and what triggers it to reactivate years or decades after successful treatment of the disease," says Das.
Ashwini Khanna of Loknayak Hospital, Delhi, terms the research as 'being full of promise.' "This might propel further research and change the way TB is treated across the globe," he says.
Praveen Pandey, a pulmonologist with Escorts Hospital gives advice on the discovery and warns, "It may be possible to identify, isolate and kill TB bacteria even before they cause any problem; but there is also the risk of over-treatment. There could be a rush of people willing to be treated without any need for it."
Das had earlier come up with a breakthrough in cancer research, in the month of June. In a study led by him, at the Stanford University School of Medicine it was proved that in times of stress certain human embryonic stem cells produce molecules that benefit themselves along with the helping the nearby cells to survive. He was congratulated by UK scientist Dr Peter W Andrews, one of the two gurus of embryonic stem cell research, for his findings.
