[lyka_candelario]

TB, Tuberculosis, or MTB is a common, and in most instances a deadly, infectious disease. These are caused by strains of the Mycobacteria which target the lungs but can also be found in other parts of the body. Its bacteria, the M. tuberculosis has this waxy cell coating composed of mycolic acid which makes it difficult for gram staining. That is why Acid Fast Bacillus (AFB) detection is used. It is managed by the WHO-endorsed “DOTS”, a multi-step therapy.

Now like having a tricky mind of its own, knowing that people would find it in lung tissue, phlegm, or blood, it has decided to advance its hide-and-seek methods into less expected areas, like the bone tissue. Not only that it avoids being detected, drugs and our body’s own immune system do not recognize its hiding place as well, allowing it to peacefully breed before lashing out with its self-raised army. That makes it rather advantageous once it goes out into the light and does a reactivation.

“This is a very exciting story,” commented Horacio Frydman, a known microbiologist at the Boston University, who apparently was not involved in the study. He, along with his post doctorate advisor from Princeton University , Nobel Laureate Eric Wieschaus, observed the bacteria Wolbachia and announced a first case of it invading the stem cells of a common fruit fly. “Hitching a ride in cells that are self-renewing is a great strategy for reinfecting tissues in the host,” he went on, “and we always assumed that other bacteria should also be doing the same.”

Such harboring is common since only 90 percent of the TB bacteria are cleared, leaving the 10 percent to go elsewhere. Its latent reservoir was still first discovered by Bikul Das, but happened more than 15 years ago. It was only 4 years ago that he replicated the study together with the Stanford University where they found out the bone marrow area densest with the bacteria and look forward into blocking such interactions.