Returning to Nature for the Next Generation of Antimicrobial Therapeutics

Antibiotics found in and inspired by nature are life-saving cures for bacterial infections have enabled modern medicine. However, the rise resistance necessitates discovery development of novel antibiotics alternative treatment strategies to prevent return a pre-antibiotic era. Once again, can serve as source new therapies form natural product microbiota-based therapies. Screening soil bacteria, particularly actinomycetes, identified most used clinic today, but rediscovery existing molecules prompted shift away from discovery. Next-generation sequencing technologies bioinformatics advances revealed untapped metabolic potential harbored within genomes environmental microbes. In this review, we first highlight current mining chemical space, including approaches activate silent biosynthetic gene clusters situ culturing methods. Next, describe how using live microbes simultaneously leverage many diverse antimicrobial mechanisms treat disease impressive efficacy fecal microbiome transplantation consortia on infection. Nature-provided some important drugs human history, show that will continue offer valuable inspiration next generation antibacterial therapeutics.