Antimicrobial Resistance
Resistance to antimicrobials is a global problem of increasing importance. Pathogens rapidly develop mutations that render current treatments ineffective. For example, resistance to carbapenems, one of the ‘last lines’ of antibiotics, is widespread and has been observed in numerous countries; resistance to artemisinin, the gold standard in malaria treatment, has also emerged. Our current arsenal of antimicrobial agents thus has a limited lifespan and new drugs are urgently needed. Tackling this resistance will require a deep understanding of microbial infections and the mechanisms through which resistance arises, as well as concerted efforts between academia and industry aimed at developing novel antimicrobial agents.
The content for this site has been chosen by the editors of several Nature journals and the collection of review articles have been made freely available for 6 months, thanks to support from Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA. The editors have also selected a wide range of additional and related content to supplement the collection and provide a comprehensive resource on antimicrobial resistance.
This collection has been produced with support from Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA. As always, Nature Publishing Group retains sole responsibility for all editorial content.
Image © Philip Patenall, Nature Research Group
This section contains News, Editorials, Comments, News & Views and Book Reviews from the Nature journals.
Accelerating global innovation to address antibacterial resistance: introducing CARB-X
Kevin Outterson et al.
A global response to the chronic shortfall in antibiotic innovation is urgently needed to combat antimicrobial resistance. Here, we introduce CARB-X, a new global public–private partnership that will invest more than US$350 million in the next 5 years to accelerate the progression of a diverse portfolio of innovative antibacterial products into clinical trials.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | Comment
Drug discovery: Chemical diversity targets malaria
David A. Fidock
A molecule selected from a library of compounds that have structures similar to natural products targets several stages of the malarial parasite's life cycle, offering single-dose treatment of the disease in mouse models.
Nature | News & Views
Use antimicrobials wisely
Peter S. Jørgensen et al.
The United Nations must reframe action on antimicrobial resistance as the defence of a common resource, argue Peter S. Jørgensen, Didier Wernli and colleagues.
Nature | Comment
What's old is new: Reconfiguring known antibiotics to fight drug resistance
Shraddha Chakradhar
To fight the rising scourge of drug-resistant superbugs, drug companies and the US government have invested more than $1 billion combined toward the development of new antibiotics, just within the past decade. But rejigging existing medicines—or combining them with boosting compounds—might offer an exciting alternative.
Nature Medicine | News Feature
A route out of resistance
Antimicrobials have been one of the biggest success stories in medical history, but the emergence of drug resistance is threatening our ability to successfully treat infections. New approaches, interdisciplinary frameworks and policies have an important role in preventing entry into a post-antimicrobial era.
Nature Microbiology | Editorial
Planning for the post-antibiotic era — why we must avoid TRUS-guided biopsy sampling
Declan G. Murphy & Jeremy P. Grummet
Health officials are warning that overuse of antibiotics and increasing antibiotic resistance mean that these drugs could soon become useless. Urologists have to take some responsibility as we continue to perform prostate biopsy sampling using a transrectal approach, which increases the possibility of bacterial infection.
Nature Reviews Urology | Comment
Antibacterial antibodies gain traction
Chris Morrison
First pivotal study win for Merck & Co.'s antibacterial antibody suggests that biologics could at last bring precision medicine to the anti-infective space.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | News & Analysis
Mining the microbial dark matter
Corie Lok
Microbiologists are finding new ways to explore the vast universe of unknown microbes in the hunt for antibiotics.
Nature | News Feature
Back on TRAC: New trial launched in bid to outpace multidrug-resistant malaria
Amy Maxmen
The tracking resistance to artemisinin collaboration (TRAC) has begun a trial of a triple therapy for malaria. This combination of artemisinin with piperaquine and mefloquine will be investigated in 16 Asian and one African site, and is set to be completed in 2017.
Nature Medicine | News Feature
When the drugs don't work
The identification of plasmid-borne resistance to an antibiotic of last resort suggests that the final pharmacological barrier holding Gram-negative bacterial infections at bay may soon be breached.
Nature Microbiology | Editorial
Antibiotics: Homed to the hideout
Wolf-Dietrich Hardt
Some Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are thought to survive standard antibiotic treatment by 'hiding' in host cells. But an antibody–antibiotic conjugate has been developed that targets these bacteria in mouse models.
Nature | News & Views
Antibacterials for any target
Lynn L. Silver
RNA-guided nucleases provide a strategy for killing specific bacterial species in complex populations.
Nature Biotechnology | News & Views
Microbiome: Antibiotics and the infant microflora
Kristen Meyer & Kjersti Aagaard
Functional selection of novel antibiotic resistance genes and metagenomic sequencing reveal how antibiotic treatment and bacterial resistance genes interact to shape the fragile microbiome of premature infants.
Nature Microbiology | News & Views
A community-based approach to new antibiotic discovery
Matthew A. Cooper
The Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery aims to tap into the potential of the millions of compounds distributed around laboratories globally to be a source of new antibiotic leads by offering free screening for antimicrobial properties, with no strings attached.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | Comment
Microbiology: Fungus against the wall
Paul O'Maille
A compound derived from plant cell-wall material that is a waste product of biofuel manufacture has been found to have fungicidal properties: it interacts with a carbohydrate called β1,3 glucan, thus compromising the integrity of fungal cells.
Nature | News & Views
New technologies take root in the search for antibiotics from soil
Jop de Vrieze
New strategies focused on soil microbes, including genetic analysis and culture techniques, could lead to the discovery of new antibiotics.
Nature Medicine | News
Bacterial physiology: Persisters run out of fuel
Ralph Bertram
Multidrug tolerant bacterial persister cells frequently arise in response to the activation of toxin–antitoxin systems. However, this prevailing view may be less general than assumed. ATP depletion may mediate another route to the persister state for the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus.
Nature Microbiology | News & Views
Policy: An intergovernmental panel on antimicrobial resistance
Mark Woolhouse & Jeremy Farrar
Drug-resistant microbes are spreading. A coordinated, global effort is needed to keep drugs working and develop alternatives, say Mark Woolhouse and Jeremy Farrar.
Nature | Comment
Collateral damage
Robert E. W. Hancock
Wiser use of antibiotics could help combat the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens.
Nature Biotechnology | News & Views
A β-lactamase inhibitor revival provides new hope for old antibiotics
Ken Garber
Novel inhibitors of bacterial β-lactamases should restore activity to old antibiotics and hold back the tide of drug-resistant infections.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | News & Analysis
Goodbye to brute force in antibiotic discovery?
Roberto Kolter & Gilles P. van Wezel
Widespread antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem. Can we revive large-scale screening to keep the pipelines flowing or will we depend increasingly on biological and ecological insights?
Nature Microbiology | Comment
Antibiotics: An irresistible newcomer
Gerard Wright
A screen of 10,000 bacterial strains, cultured in their normal soil, has uncovered an antibiotic with broad and potent activity. And because the compound targets lipid molecules, developing resistance is probably difficult.
Nature | News & Views
Antimicrobial innovation: combining commitment, creativity and coherence
Jos W. M. van der Meer, Robin Fears, Dame Sally C. Davies & Volker ter Meulen
Urgent action to tackle antimicrobial resistance must take account of all the scientific opportunities available, find new resources to support academia and emphasize the importance of innovation to policy-makers and to the general public.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | Comment
Microbiology: Malaria runs rings round artemisinin
Jeremy Burrows
In parts of southeast Asia, malaria parasites are showing resistance to the active ingredient in artemisinin-based antimalarial drugs. Delineation of a cell-signalling pathway might help to explain this phenomenon.
Nature | News & Views
Genome editing for clinical HIV isolates
Michelle Kim & Robert F Siliciano
An engineered recombinase removes the HIV-1 provirus from patient-derived cells and reduces infection in humanized mice.
Nature Biotechnology | News & Views
Microbiology: Barriers to the spread of resistance
Morten O. A. Sommer
Despite identifying abundant genes capable of conferring antibiotic resistance in soil microorganisms, a study finds that few are shared by human pathogens and that there is little transfer of the genes within the soil communities.
Nature | News & Views
Bacteriology: Pathogens in perspective
Andrew Jermy
Andrew Jermy travels with Hugh Pennington on the arc of humanity's long, troubled relationship with microorganisms.
Nature | Books & Arts
