College Station, Texas-based Texas A&M Health Science Center researchers have developed a test that detects specific enzymes only produced by TB bacteria, speeding up the detection process from days to minutes.
Here are five things to know about this diagnostic procedure.
- The most accurate way of diagnosing TB is through a cultured mucus sample from the patient. Declaring a definitive positive or negative result using this method can take weeks.
- The Texas A&M team spent about six years analyzing the structure of the TB enzyme in order to determine the configuration of a compound that would bind to it, resulting in detection.
- The compound they ultimately landed on becomes fluorescent when it binds with the TB enzyme. The sample will actually light up when the test is positive.
- It is possible that the same technology could be used to combat antibiotic-resistant TB. If the positive bacterial culture is exposed to a drug, and the light dissipates, that would signal the drug effectively killed the bacteria.
- The researchers have developed a portable, battery-operated light reader that can analyze the sample for a positive or negative diagnosis.
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