- “Historically, most antibiotics have come from a small set of molecular scaffolds
whose functional lifetimes have been extended by generations of synthetic
tailoring. The emergence of multidrug resistance among the latest generation of
pathogens suggests that the discovery of new scaffolds should be a
priority...Two factors exacerbate this supply problem by creating unique dis-
incentives for antibiotic development. First, antibiotics are used in smaller
quantities than other drugs...Antibiotics yield lower revenues than most drugs.” - “Promising approaches to scaffold discovery are emerging: they include mining
underexplored microbial niches for natural products, designing screens that avoid
rediscovering old scaffolds, and repurposing libraries of synthetic molecules for
use as antibiotics...The use of a newly approved antibiotic may be restricted to
the treatment of serious bacterial infections. The result is a quandary; Resistance
is on the rise while antibiotic discovery and development are on the decline.”
Fisher, et al. (2012). Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health.
Nature. 484. pg. 186-94.
https://nature.berkeley.edu/garbelotto/downloads/fisher2012.pdf
Food and Drug Administration. (2014). Summary report on antimicrobials sold or
distributed for use in food producing animals. FDA.
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForIndustry/UserFees/AnimalDrugUserFeeActADUFA/
UCM416983.pdf
Food and Water Watch and Beyond Pesticides. (2009). Triclosan: What the research
Shows. Beyond Pesticides. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/antibacterial/triclosan-
research-3-09.pdf
- “A growing list of household and personal care products are advertised as
‘antibacterial’ because they contain a chemical called triclosan. While the
manufacturers of these products want you to think triclosan protects you from
harmful bacteria, it turns out that it may be doing more harm than good.”
Gale, E., Cundliffe, E., Reynolds, P., et al. (1981). The molecular basis of antibiotic
action. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., New York, NY.
- The definitive survey of the action of antimicrobial drugs and the structure and
biochemical activities of microorganisms. - This was the first definitive study of the chemistry and structure of antibiotics by
a well-known professor of chemical microbiology at the University of
Cambridge who began his research in the late 1940s.