Researchers have developed a fast, cost-efficient tuberculosis test that can be read using a smartphone. The team combined gold nanoparticles with fluorescent single-stranded DNA sequences that bind to the genetic material of TB-causing bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These nanoparticles were then incorporated into a paper-based device. If the smallest amount of M. tuberculosis is detected on the device, the […]
Tag: Tuberculosis
Ancient tuberculosis may have come from seals
Tuberculosis was already present in the Americas before European contact, and new research indicates that some strains may have arrived via an unusual route; seals and sea lions. Researchers have now sequenced the genomes of three strains of tuberculosis from 1000-year-old mummies from Peru. The strains are genetically very different from the European strains that […]
