Keeping it simple: lessons from the golden era of antibiotic discovery

Dane Lyddiard; Graham L Jones; Ben W Greatrex

doi:10.1093/femsle/fnw084

Keeping it simple: lessons from the golden era of antibiotic discovery

FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2016 Apr;363(8):fnw084. doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnw084. Epub 2016 Mar 31.

Authors

Dane Lyddiard¹, Graham L Jones², Ben W Greatrex²

Affiliations

¹ School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia dlyddiar@myune.edu.au.
² School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.

PMID: 27036144
DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnw084

Abstract

Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to currently used antibiotics. At the same time, little progress has been made in discovering new antibacterial drugs to combat resistant organisms. History teaches us that 'high tech' target-based complex methods are not synonymous with success and a return to simple, systematic screening of natural products against bacteria from traditional and novel resources holds our greatest hope of success.

Keywords: antibacterial; antibiotic; drug discovery; history; natural products; screening.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
Bacteria / drug effects*
Bacteria / genetics
Biological Products / pharmacology*
Drug Discovery / methods*
Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics*
Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Biological Products