Infection therapy: the problem of drug resistance – and possible solutions

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.