Targeting a Killer

Tuberculosis (TB) has taken over a billion lives in the past 140 years. Although the disease is both preventable and treatable, resistance to traditional therapies is growing. The WHO calls multidrug-resistant TB “a public health crisis and a health security threat,” citing a 10 percent increase in cases from 2018 to 2019. In this Harvard Horizons presentation, Harvard University PhD student Harry Won describes a new approach to treating the disease: by targeting and destroying critical parts of TB’s cellular “machine.”