New strategies to combat drug resistance in bacteria

Abstract Over the last two decades drug-resistant bacterial infections have intensified worldwide. Drug resistance is a condition enabling a disease-causing organism to resist distinct drugs or chemicals aimed at its eradication, thereby ensuing the microorganism's survival. The emergence of such drug-resistant bacteria demonstrates the need for improved strategies to discover new drug-based compounds. Since most of the antibiotics target the central dogma of the bacterial cell, there is an urgent need to target supplementary pathways for the discovery of new drugs. The development of recent advanced techniques such as omics and nanoparticles have provided new tools for global studies of living organisms. However, these new methods have introduced new scientific challenges. Modifications in already existing traditional and conventional methods may also play a vital role. This chapter discusses the recent advances for the identification of potential drug candidates.