Towards genomic prediction of drug resistance in tuberculosis

In 2014, WHO approved a new strategy for the elimination of tuberculosis,¹ and recommended that countries adapt the strategy's pillars—patient-centred care, supportive systems, and innovation—as appropriate to their local contexts. The need for a novel approach to elimination of tuberculosis in low-incidence settings was further echoed in a second framework² that laid out eight priority areas. Among the prescribed interventions were investment in new technologies and rapid drug-susceptibility testing to optimise treatments. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Timothy Walker and colleagues³ present an important study at the nexus of these areas, establishing a foundation for routine use of whole-genome sequencing in the mycobacteriology laboratory.