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Biological variability and the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Nature Genetics volume 45, pages 720–721 (2013)Cite this article

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A new study demonstrates that bacterial mutation rates associated with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage most commonly linked to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are multifold higher than shown in previous studies. This discovery, when considered together with recent findings on pharmacokinetic variability in patients, leads to new models of how multidrug-resistant tuberculosis arises, with direct therapeutic implications.

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Figure 1: Model for the development of M. tuberculosis antibiotic resistance within patients treated for tuberculosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tawanda Gumbo is at the Office of Global Health and the Department of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.,

    Tawanda Gumbo

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  1. Tawanda Gumbo
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Correspondence to Tawanda Gumbo.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Gumbo, T. Biological variability and the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Nat Genet 45, 720–721 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2675

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