Will we still have antibiotics in 50 years? We asked 7 global experts

Almost since antibiotics were first discovered, we’ve been aware bacteria can learn how to overcome these medicines, a phenomenon known as antimicrobial resistance.

Authors


  • André O. Hudson

    Dean of the College of Science, Professor of Biochemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology


  • Fidelma Fitzpatrick

    Consultant Microbiologist, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland and Professor and Head of Department, Clinical Microbiology, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences


  • Juliana Côrrea

    Pesquisadora de pós-doutorado em saúde pública, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV/EAESP)


  • Lori L. Burrows

    Professor of Biocchemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University


  • Raúl Rivas González

    Catedrático de Microbiología. Miembro de la Sociedad Española de Microbiología., Universidad de Salamanca


  • Roy Robins-Browne

    Honorary Professorial Fellow, medical microbiology, The University of Melbourne


  • Yori Yuliandra

    Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universitas Andalas

The World Health Organization says we’re currently losing to the bugs, with resistance increasing and too few new antibiotics in the pipeline.

We wanted to know whether experts around the world think we will still have effective antibiotics in 50 years. Seven out of seven experts said yes.

The Conversation

André O. Hudson receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Lori L. Burrows receives research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Glyconet, and the Ontario Research Fund.

Roy Robins-Browne has received funding from The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, The Australian Research Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Research Foundation and The US National Institutes of Health.

Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Juliana Côrrea, Raúl Rivas González, and Yori Yuliandra do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

/Courtesy of The Conversation. View in full here.