Antibiotics: past, present and future

The first antibiotic, salvarsan, was deployed in 1910. In just over 100 years antibiotics have drastically changed modern medicine and extended the average human lifespan by 23 years. The discovery of penicillin in 1928 started the golden age of natural product antibiotic discovery that peaked in the mid-1950s. Since then, a gradual decline in antibiotic discovery and development and the evolution of drug resistance in many human pathogens has led to the current antimicrobial resistance crisis. Here we give an overview of the history of antibiotic discovery, the major classes of antibiotics and where they come from. We argue that the future of antibiotic discovery looks bright as new technologies such as…

• DF
  Directorate for Biological Sciences
• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Award: MR/P007570/1
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: BBS/E/J/000C0665, M011216, BBS/E/J/000PR9791, BB/M011216/1, BBS/E/J/000PR9790, BB/M003140/1, BBS/E/J/000CA538
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Award: NE/L002582/1