Mycobacterium tuberculosis (credit: CDC/Elizabeth "Libby" White)
"Living-dead" bacteria exist in limbo: biologically active but not proliferating. Buried in this zombie state, disease-causing bacteria could come back from the dead to re-infect patients. Researchers at EPFL have produced the first evidence of this strange phenomenon in tuberculosis, suggesting new avenues for treatment. Tuberculosis affects over 12 million people globally, and is usually treated with a course of four drugs over several months. However, even after completing the treatment, many patients suffer relapses. Based on studies of harmless environmental bacteria, scientists think that the tuberculosis bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis , retreats into a bizarre "zombie" state in the patient's body, and comes back to life when the conditions permit. Scientists at EPFL have now made the first experimental observation of M. tuberculosis in this zombie state, which seems to be amplified by stressful conditions such as attacks from the host's immune system.
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