Open AccessInfection therapy: the problem of drug resistance – and possible solutions
Author(s) -
Brüssow Harald
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.12777
Subject(s) - lysin , antibiotics , antibiotic resistance , bacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , isolation (microbiology) , phage therapy , drug resistance , bacteriocin , microbiome , biology , drug discovery , antimicrobial , pathogenic bacteria , computational biology , bacteriophage , bioinformatics , escherichia coli , genetics , gene
Summary The rising antibiotic resistance in major bacterial pathogens together with the breakdown of the antibiotic discovery platform creates a critical situation for infection therapy. Recent developments reviving new antibiotic discovery from defining chemical rules for membrane‐passing compounds to isolation chips for soil bacteria and exploring the human microbiome for antibiotic‐producing bacteria are discussed. The potential of bacteriocins, tailocins, phage lysins, phages, probiotics and commensal blends as alternatives to antibiotics is evaluated.