New Delhi: Indian scientists have mapped the Mycobacterium
tuberculosis genome, a first of its kind achievement that gives
hope of discovering a cost effective drug for the disease that
kills at least 330,000 Indians every year. "Our scientists along
with over 100 science students from several universities have
done this within a few months. We hope within 18-24 months we
will be able to take one molecule to the clinical trial stage,"
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) chief
Samir Bramhachari told IANS. "I am too excited. What we have not
done so far has been achieved. I thank all those students who
have helped it become a reality. We are doing this through open
source drug discovery (OSDD) and anyone across the world is free
to join the effort," Bramhachari told IANS. Scientists said that
though 1.7 million people die of TB every year globally, there
has not been any new drug discovery for last the four to five
decades. "OSDD is a completely new formula across the world.
Here we are making