The microbiology of Mycobacterium leprae; progress in the last 30 years

Over the last 30 years, there have been dramatic changes in the way Mycobacterium leprae is studied in the microbiology laboratory. The organism still has not been grown in vitro but, starting with demonstration of growth in the footpads of mice and culminating in the application of molecular biological and genetic techniques, we are now in a position to circumvent some of the difficulties arising from lack of cultivability. Such studies are providing us with new insights into the basic biology of the organism and are likely to provide new tools which will be of value in the clinical laboratory. In this article, I briefly outline the progress which has been made, and the potential applications of molecular techniques in such areas as bacterial identification and drug-resistance testing.