Tuberculosis vaccine development.

If the end of the 20th century saw the flowering of genomics, the beginning of the 21st century is witnessing an equally rapid blossoming of proteomics. These twin technologies have had a dramatic influence on the study of tuberculosis (TB), and nowhere more so than in the development of new TB vaccines. Only a few years ago, it was generally accepted that clinical trials of new TB vaccines would not take place for at least a decade. However, the first trials are now scheduled to start within months. Much TB vaccine research has thus shifted from developing new vaccines, to selecting the best vaccines for human use from the increasing number of effective new candidates becoming available. This selection is being eased by the improved animal models that have been developed over the past few years and by our increasing understanding of immunity to TB.