UCC's National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC) has been selected to co-ordinate a new international research project to develop sensors and diagnostic technology for the detection of drug-resistant strains of TB. In the past, thousands of Irish people died from the deadly disease. Eventually, TB was contained and in recent times it was believed that the disease was virtually eradicated. Over the last few years, however, variant multi-drug resistant strains of TB have begun to emerge. Current assessment technologies are time-consuming and laborious and involve bacterial culturing methods. The NMRC-co-ordinated project will develop new technology based on DNA diagnostic methods, which will enable the various strains of TB to be identified much more rapidly. According to NMRC the use of this kind of DNA diagnostic technology allows for the development of "rapid, simple, disposable, one-step measurement devices, which are user friendly and which reduce the diagnostic time from days to hours or less". The project involves a consortium of British, German and Spanish partners.

NMRC was set up 20 years ago, as a spin-off of UCC's department of engineering, it has become the largest ICT research centre in Ireland with a staff of 200 and an ICT research infrastructure worth more than £80 million. Prof Gerry Wrixon, president of UCC, was the NMRC's first director. (See also page 13.)