Antibiotic Resistance themed issue

Resistance to antibiotics has become one of those rare scientific issues that have entered deeply into the public consciousness. Most people have read about resistance in newspapers or blogs or heard about it on the television news or from their neighbours. Increasingly, people are experiencing first hand the difficulties when antibiotics no longer work. Consequently, global leaders are taking note. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the president of the USA has proposed a national action plan, and most developed countries have followed suit. The government of the UK has been especially active in the exploration of the causes and solutions of AMR and has commissioned a review on antimicrobial resistance chaired by ex-Goldman Sachs chairman Jim O'Neil (http://amr-review.org/). This review has released a series of papers describing the scope of the problem (e.g., an estimated 50 million deaths by 2050 related to AMR and a cost to the global economy of $100 trillion). The O'Neil group has also provided several reports on possible solutions to AMR in the form of policies to address global AMR. The level of attention that AMR is garnering from the public and governments is a reflection of the key requirement for antibiotics for the treatment of infectious diseases and in their prevention. The stakes are high; a world without antibiotics is a world without modern medicine.

While it is encouraging that AMR is on the radar of public health leaders across the globe, solving the problem will require major investments in new research. The core scientific challenge of AMR is immense: how can we keep up with or even overcome bacterial evolution? In this themed issue of MedChemComm on antibiotic resistance, authors from across the globe have contributed reviews of the literature and new research papers to address the challenge of resistance. A common theme in this issue is the important role of proven antibiotic chemical scaffolds in developing 21st century antibiotics. Several authors demonstrate the value of new chemical matter based on ‘old’ drugs in overcoming existing resistance, here the aminoglycoside antibiotics, once abandoned by the pharmaceutical industries, are being explored with fresh chemistry and new ideas. Others are exploring how blocking resistance itself in order to rescue legacy drugs can advance antibiotic drug discovery.

This themed issue features a combination of reviews and research articles that are intended to lead the readers towards gaining a better knowledge about some of the important multiple facets of the resistance problem. From these combined articles, it is clear that the field of antibiotic resistance is ever growing and expanding in many new directions.

The overall sense of the contributions to this special issue is one of cautious optimism. The challenges of AMR are difficult and global in nature; nevertheless there is significant opportunity for innovation in this arena. The work reported in this issue of MedChemComm offers examples of this innovation from some of the best laboratories in the world tackling what is one of the gravest problems in 21st century health. We hope that our readers, both experts in this field of research and newcomers, will appreciate and be inspired by this collection of articles.

Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova (MedChemComm Associate Editor)

Gerard D. Wright (Guest Editor)

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