Marching towards Making Evolution-Proof Antibiotics

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens has increased to alarming levels and warrants immediate attention. Traditional antibiotics kill the bacteria by targeting the bacterial structures and mechanisms that are essential for their survival, putting great selection pressure to develop resistance. Anti-virulence drugs are new class of therapeutic targets being investigated to tackle this crisis. As anti-virulence drugs disarm the pathogen rather than killing, it may pose less selection pressure on bacteria to develop resistance.