Since their discovery over 70 years ago, antibiotics have been indispensable as the safeguards of human life. However, antibiotics have come a long way since then. Today we are faced with the harsh reality of increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to antibiotics and a decreasing pipeline of new antibiotics, both of which have serious repercussions for global health.

To address the challenges of AMR, editors Ehud Banin, Diarmaid Hughes and Oscar P. Kuipers have produced a new Thematic Issue for FEMS Microbiology Reviews on Antimicrobial Therapy.

In the last 70 years, mankind has enjoyed the power of antibiotics; however, at the current rate of antibiotic resistance development we are getting closer and closer to the post-antibiotic era. This FEMS Microbiology Reviews thematic issue on antimicrobial resistance highlights both the challenges and the possible approaches that can be taken to overcome and outsmart these bacteria. Research over the past years has taught us that this is going to be an ongoing challenge, yet with the current advancement in our understanding of resistance and mode of action, and in research tools at the molecular, structural and chemical level, we believe that we can still find ways to combat this threat… Time is not on our side.

Ehud Banin, Diarmaid Hughes and Oscar P. Kuipers – Editors, FEMS Microbiology Reviews

Explore this Thematic Issue’s collection of 11 review articles, which has brought together expert groups to address the problems and issues associated with antibiotics and AMR, spanning from resistant biofilms to novel antibiotic compounds.

Our guest editor, Oscar P. Kuipers is a FEMS expert specializing in antimicrobial peptides in the European Academy of Microbiology (EAM). You can read more about him and his AMR research interests here. If you are interested in actively fighting AMR, we also have a range of opportunities for you to get involved in.