Antibacterial discovery has become a pressing global challenge. Rising antibiotic resistance and difficult-to-treat infections mean we urgently need new antibacterial drugs and infection prevention measures. Food production problems such as bacterial crop disease and food spoilage are driving demand for innovations too.
Many antibacterial products in current use come from nature, two examples being the antibiotic streptomycin and the food preservative lysozyme. Scientists think antibacterial production evolved for self-defence, helping small organisms repel competitors and large organisms avoid infection. In small organisms inhabiting a larger one, for example friendly gut microbes, antibacterial molecules may serve both of these functions.
