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Disinfectants, antiseptics, and sanitizers are crucial for hygiene standards and disease control, as recently emphasized by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. With the foreshadowing of antibiotic resistance, new cutting-edge technologies and innovative methodology need to be applied to prevent the latest emerging antimicrobial resistance crisis, resistance to disinfectants. Disinfectant resistance is a relatively novel field of study, and although some molecular mechanisms have been elucidated, little is known about complex mechanisms, cross-resistance with antibiotics, and the existence of resistance biomarkers. Fortunately, great advances have been made in the field of sequencing technology and bioinformatics. Although there are many limitations to this technology, various “omics” approaches to disinfectant resistance will be crucial in directing environment-specific disinfection programs. In addition, the vast amounts of data generated by sequencing technologies can be applied by artificial intelligence (AI) models to identify key disinfectant resistance markers and in the surveillance of disinfectant resistance genes. A combination of these approaches will be crucial in identifying new disinfectant resistance mechanisms, in monitoring resistant populations, and in identifying cellular targets for new disinfectant formulations. These molecular tools will be vital in the battle against disinfectant resistance, the latest development in the antimicrobial resistance crisis.

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