Antimicrobials, drug discovery, and genome mining

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2013 Feb;97(3):969-78. doi: 10.1007/s00253-012-4609-8. Epub 2012 Dec 12.

Abstract

Over the years, antibiotics have provided an effective treatment for a number of microbial diseases. However recently, there has been an increase in resistant microorganisms that have adapted to our current antibiotics. One of the most dangerous pathogens is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). With the rise in the cases of MRSA and other resistant pathogens such as vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the need for new antibiotics increases every day. Many challenges face the discovery and development of new antibiotics, making it difficult for these new drugs to reach the market, especially since many of the pharmaceutical companies have stopped searching for antibiotics. With the advent of genome sequencing, new antibiotics are being found by the techniques of genome mining, offering hope for the future.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Infective Agents / isolation & purification*
  • Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacterial Infections / drug therapy
  • Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Data Mining
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Drug Discovery / trends
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Genomics / methods*
  • Humans

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents