A look back over the development of antibiotics since Fleming's day and a look forward to future challenges.

Antibiotics represent one of the most successful forms of therapy in medicine. But the efficiency of antibiotics is compromised by the growing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Antibiotic resistance, which is implicated in elevated morbidity and mortality rates as well as in the increased treatment costs, is considered to be one of the major global public health threats (www.who.int/drugresistance/en/) and the magnitude of the problem recently prompted a number of international and national bodies to take actions to protect the public (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/docs/road-map-amr_en.pdf: http://www.who.int/drugresistance/amr_global_action_plan/en/; http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/carb_national_strategy.pdf). Understanding the mechanisms by which bacteria successfully defend themselves against the antibiotic assault represent the main theme of this eBook published as a Research Topic in Frontiers in Microbiology, section of Antimicrobials, Resistance, and Chemotherapy. The articles in the eBook update the reader on various aspects and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. A better understanding of these mechanisms should facilitate the development of means to potentiate the efficacy and increase the lifespan of antibiotics while minimizing the emergence of antibiotic resistance among pathogens.

In ten years’ time, will antibiotics still work? Have we let bacteria get the upper hand in the evolutionary arms race? In the 1920s the discovery of the antibiotic penicillin started a golden age of medicine. However, experts warn that the end of that age may be just a decade away. In this BWB Text, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles explores the looming crisis of antibiotic resistance and its threat to New Zealand. Wiles concludes that New Zealand must do more to protect the public from a future without antibiotics.

This volume covers all aspects of the antibiotic discovery and development process through Phase II/III. The contributors, a group of highly experienced individuals in both academics and industry, include chapters on the need for new antibiotic compounds, strategies for screening for new antibiotics, sources of novel synthetic and natural antibiotics, discovery phases of lead development and optimization, and candidate compound nominations into development. Beyond discovery , the handbook will cover all of the studies to prepare for IND submission: Phase I (safety and dose ranging), progression to Phase II (efficacy), and Phase III (capturing desired initial indications). This book walks the reader through all aspects of the process, which has never been done before in a single reference. With the rise of antibiotic resistance and the increasing view that a crisis may be looming in infectious diseases, there are strong signs of renewed emphasis in antibiotic research. The purpose of the handbook is to offer a detailed overview of all aspects of the problem posed by antibiotic discovery and development.

This is an insiders account of 50 years of genetic studies of the soil-inhabiting microbes that produce most of the antibiotics used to treat infections, as well as anti-cancer, anti-parasitic and immunosuppressant drugs. The book begins by describing how these microbes the actinomycetes were discovered in the latter part of the nineteenth century, but remained a Cinderella group until, in the 1940s, they shot to prominence with the discovery of streptomycin, the first effective treatment for tuberculosis and only the second antibiotic, after penicillin, to become a medical marvel. There followed a massive effort over several decades to find further treatments for infectious diseases and cancer, tempered by the rise of antibiotic resistance consequent on antibiotic misuse and over-use. The book goes on to describe the discovery of gene exchange in the actinomycetes in the context of the rise of microbial genetics in the mid-20th century, leading to determination of the complete DNA sequence of a model member of the group at the turn of the millennium. There follow chapters in which the intricate molecular machinery that adapts the organisms metabolism and development to life in the soil, including antibiotic production, is illuminated by the DNA blueprint. Then come an up-to-the minute account of the use of genetic engineering to make novel, hybrid, antibiotics, and a topical description of techniques to learn the roles of the thousands of genes in a genome sequence, throwing a powerful light on the biology of the organisms and their harnessing for increasing antibiotic productivity. In the final chapter we return to the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, the first actinomycetes to be discovered, and how methodology, in part derived from the study of the streptomycetes, is being applied to understand and control these still deadly pathogens.

Winner of the 2021 Joan Thirsk Memorial Prize from the British Agricultural History Society​ 2020 Choice​ Outstanding Academic Title​ Winner of the 2020 Turriano Prize from ICOHTEC Short-listed and highly commended for the Antibiotic Guardian Award from Public Health England​ Long-listed for the Michel Déon Prize from the Royal Irish Academy​ Pyrrhic Progress analyses over half a century of antibiotic use, regulation, and resistance in US and British food production. Mass-introduced after 1945, antibiotics helped revolutionize post-war agriculture. Food producers used antibiotics to prevent and treat disease, protect plants, preserve food, and promote animals’ growth. Many soon became dependent on routine antibiotic use to sustain and increase production. The resulting growth of antibiotic infrastructures came at a price. Critics blamed antibiotics for leaving dangerous residues in food, enabling bad animal welfare, and selecting for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria, which could no longer be treated with antibiotics. Pyrrhic Progress reconstructs the complicated negotiations that accompanied this process of risk prioritization between consumers, farmers, and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Unsurprisingly, solutions differed: while Europeans implemented precautionary antibiotic restrictions to curb AMR, consumer concerns and cost-benefit assessments made US regulators focus on curbing drug residues in food. The result was a growing divergence of antibiotic stewardship and a rise of AMR. Kirchhelle’s comprehensive analysis of evolving non-human antibiotic use and the historical complexities of antibiotic stewardship provides important insights for current debates on the global burden of AMR. This Open Access ebook is available under a CC-BY-NC-ND license, and is supported by a generous grant from Wellcome Trust.

This book presents a thorough and authoritative overview of the multifaceted field of antibiotic science – offering guidance to translate research into tools for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases. Provides readers with knowledge about the broad field of drug resistance Offers guidance to translate research into tools for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases Links strategies to analyze microbes to the development of new drugs, socioeconomic impacts to therapeutic strategies, and public policies to antibiotic-resistance-prevention strategies

Completely revised and updated Pharmaceutical Microbiologycontinues to provide the essential resource for the 21st centurypharmaceutical microbiologist "....a valuable resource for junior pharmacists graspingan appreciation of microbiology, microbiologists entering thepharmaceutical field, and undergraduate pharmacy students." Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy ".....highly readable. The content is comprehensive, withwell-produced tables, diagrams and photographs, and is accessiblethrough the extensive index." Journal of Medical Microbiology WHY BUY THIS BOOK? Completely revised and updated to reflect the rapid pace ofchange in the teaching and practice of pharmaceuticalmicrobiology Expanded coverage of modern biotechnology, including genomicsand recombinant DNA technology Updated information on newer antimicrobial agents and theirmode of action Highly illustrated with structural formulas of organiccompounds and flow diagrams of biochemical processes

This fourth edition of the anthrax guidelines encompasses a systematic review of the extensive new scientific literature and relevant publications up to end 2007 including all the new information that emerged in the 3-4 years after the anthrax letter events. This updated edition provides information on the disease and its importance, its etiology and ecology, and offers guidance on the detection, diagnostic, epidemiology, disinfection and decontamination, treatment and prophylaxis procedures, as well as control and surveillance processes for anthrax in humans and animals. With two rounds of a rigorous peer-review process, it is a relevant source of information for the management of anthrax in humans and animals.

“In Missing Microbes, Martin Blaser sounds [an] alarm. He patiently and thoroughly builds a compelling case that the threat of antibiotic overuse goes far beyond resistant infections.”—Nature Renowned microbiologist Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the equilibrium and health of our bodies. Now this invisible Eden is under assault from our overreliance on medical advances including antibiotics and caesarian sections, threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes and leading to severe health consequences. Taking us into the lab to recount his groundbreaking studies, Blaser not only provides elegant support for his theory, he guides us to what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future. “Missing Microbes is science writing at its very best—crisply argued and beautifully written, with stunning insights about the human microbiome and workable solutions to an urgent global crisis.”—David M. Oshinsky, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Polio: An American Story