Letting the genome out of the bottle: prospects for new drug development

Use of the information gained from sequencing the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome will enable scientists to accelerate the development of reagents for improved tuberculosis control. Cloning and expressing genes encoding the enzymes involved in cell-wall biosynthesis will provide the tools for screening millions of novel compounds. Cell wall inhibitors will be mainly useful in treating resistant disease, but cost factors are likely to limit the application of novel compounds in the design of new treatment regimens. More effective might be an approach to target metabolic processes that are essential even in nondividing bacteria. A third target for drug action is elimination of latent disease through a drug that acts in synergy with the immune response.