Some lives hang on the distance of dusty roads, with a cure out of reach. Take tuberculosis, an ancient disease that still kills about 4,100 people each day around the world because the tests to diagnose it and the drugs to treat it are inaccessible to many in need. If caught early enough, tuberculosis is usually curable. But the most common and accurate test involves, culturing a person’s saliva for about a month. “While you wait, you infect others and maybe you die,” said Mario Raviglione, director of the global tuberculosis program at the World Health Organization. In 2010, however, a device capable of isolating bacterial DNA and diagnosing TB within hours became available. Named Gen expert, the device enabled more timely and effective treatment. It was accepted for use by the World Health Organization, and the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it was “revolutionizing tuberculosis control.”

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