Scientists Believe The Compound They Stumbled Upon Off The Rameswaram Coast Will Help Treat TB, HIV Chennai: For years, scientists at the Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC) here have been digging in deserts and under the sea hoping to unearth chemical compounds that had the potential to be developed into drugs to fight tuberculosis. On Wednesday, they announced they had hit pay dirt at a coral reef off Rameswaram. From a soil sample obtained from under the sea there, the researchers isolated transitmycin, a novel antibiotic that could fight TB and HIV better than most drugs available today. Scientists hunt for new drugs in extreme conditions, such as deserts and under the sea where there