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TB research gets lift offDate: 08/10/2007 09:38:10
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Space technology is to be called upon in the search to identify the bacterium behind tuberculosis (TB).
An ambitious project from The Open University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will seek to use a Mars mission-honed device to get to the bottom of the disease.
European space project The Beagle 2 in 2003 employed a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, which experts now believe can pick out the unique chemical fingerprint of TB.
The Beagle 2 itself is believed to have crashed and suffered system failure in its attempted Mars landing, but is hoped that its intricate technology could aid the diagnosis rate of TB, especially in poorer countries.
Dr Geraint Morgan of the Open University explained how the project would work: "The bacterium that causes TB has a special coating and it is the pattern of chemicals in this coating that the mass spectrometer will be searching for."
Focusing on diagnosis in poorer countries is a sign of the gaping difference in treatment across the continents - during the 19th century, up to 25 per cent of European deaths were caused by this disease but numbers rapidly fell as living standards improved in the 20th century.
Globally, however, TB now has more victims than it did in 1950, with many in the poorest countries unable to seek the medical advice and treatment necessary to combat the disease.
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