Global tuberculosis control in 2008 demands the use of new tools for more sensitive and rapid detection of active disease and of drug resistance. Improved technologies are available for reference laboratories but for settings where resources and technical capacity are limited there is little ready for field implementation. The pipeline is promising, but in the interim wider use of liquid culture and manual or colorimetric drug susceptibility testing should be promoted. © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.