Connecting the Dots: NPR TB Story
isbscience.org/news/2013/09/05/connecting-the-dots-npr-tb-story/
WHAT YOU HEARD IN THE NEWS:
NPR aired this story (on Sept. 5) about research just published in the journal Nature Genetics suggesting that tuberculosis may have existed more than 70,000 years ago.
Tuberculosis Hitched a Ride When Early Humans Left Africa
‘ “The old, traditional view was that tuberculosis emerged during the Neolithic transition when people started to domesticate animals and develop agriculture, which started about 10,000 years ago,” says Sebastien Gagneux, an infectious diseases specialist at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel. “Our work suggest that TB is really much older.” ‘
ISB’S CONNECTION:
ISB is collaborating with ETH Zurich and Seattle BioMed, which announced on Aug. 15 that it had received a $16.6 million grant over five years to examine the progression of tuberculosis from latent infection to disease. Researchers will apply a comprehensive systems approach in the study. From the press release:
The grant integrates the expertise of several scientists at Seattle BioMed, in collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) and ETH Zurich.
Alan Aderem will serve as Co-Principal Investigator (PI) of the program and Co-PI of the Omics Core.
David Sherman, Ph.D., is the Co-PI of the program and Co-PI of the Pathogen Project.
Kevin Urdhal, Ph.D., is the Co-PI of the Host Project.
Dan Zak, Ph.D., is the Co-PI of the Data Core.
Nitin Baliga, Ph.D., of ISB will serve as the Co-PI of the Modeling Core.
Ruedi Aebersold, Ph.D., of ETH Zurich will serve as Co-PI of the Technology Core.
The team of researchers comprises experts from both the host side of the disease and the pathogen side, along with authorities in the field of systems biology and biotechnology.
