The Sea as a Source of Antibiotics
Sara Maria Soto · Clinical Microbiology Open Access · 2015
Description Over the past few decades, there has been a decline in antibiotics development, resulting in fewer new antimicrobial agents approvals. Thus, the era of antibiotics began in the 1920s and 30s with the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming. There are now over 13 classes of antibiotics, some into their fifth generation, consisting on synthetic derivatives from older antibiotics and natural compounds. In the first decades, about 15-20 new antibiotics were developed each decade, but in the last ten years only 6 new drugs have come on the market. In addition to the scarce development of antibiotics, the emergence and increase of multiresistant bacteria to the existent antibiotics used in clinical practice are limiting treatment options for patients. For these reasons, a need of finding new molecules with antimicrobial activity exists.