Maybe we should have started by pasteurizing people...

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US - Researchers working to decode Tuberculosis have found evidence

that TB did not jump from cattle-to-humans, as previously suspected,

but from humans-to-cattle.

Among those trying to decipher the origins and trajectory of

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria responsible for TB, are

three researchers in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Graduate student Luz- " Lucha " Pfister and associate professor

Anne Stone in ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and

Rosenberg, an assistant professor in the School of Life

Sciences, are trying to establish a credible evolutionary timeline

for TB.

Among those trying to decipher the origins and trajectory of

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria responsible for TB, are ASU

associate professor Anne Stone (left) and graduate student Luz-

" Lucha " Pfister in the School of Human Evolution and Social

Change, and Rosenberg, an assistant professor in the School

of Life Sciences.

Photo: Arizona State UniversityTheir research suggests that the

disease migrated from humans to cattle – not the reverse, as has long

been assumed. The research estimates that the evolutionary leap took

place prior to the domestication of cows – more than 113,000 years

ago – indicating M. tuberculosis is a much older pathogen than

previously believed.

This outcome supports that of the French Pasteur Institute's Cristina

Gutierrez, an evolutionary mycobacteriologist whose work first cast

doubt on the cattle-to-human TB link and its date range. Gutierrez

calls the findings of Pfister's team confirmation of TB's ancient

origins and human-cattle transmission.

This summer, Pfister presented the results of the group's research at

the annual meeting of the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution,

in Barcelona. She also presented during the April assembly of the

American Association of Physical Anthropologists and subsequently saw

the group's research reported on in the journal Science.

Why are scientists interested in TB's status thousands of years ago?

Pfister puts the research into perspective: " An accurate timeframe

can help us learn about the development between host and pathogen. It

can aid in understanding the disease and the way it evolves, how it

creates new strains to stay alive. "

As Stone is quick to point out, " The data we generate can be used by

clinicians to study this disease and formulate appropriate

treatments. Our work is historical, but the implications are far-

reaching. "

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