The next generation of antibiotics could greatly benefit medicine, many researchers say. It also could, some warn, be quite dangerous. Prompting this debate is a class of drugs based on antimicrobial peptides that all animals and plants produce to fight infections. Studies over the past 15 years have found that these peptides, called AMPs, are powerful germ-killers.
But their most remarkable property, proponents say, is that they rarely spur the evolution of resistant microorganisms.1 If true, this could herald a medical breakthrough. Antibiotic-resistant parasites are rendering existing drugs increasingly useless, toughening the biomedical arms race against pathogens. These peptides might turn the tide.
Research on AMPs is growing yearly.2 Such peptides might boost innate infection protections, lessening the need for traditional antibiotics. Under study for indications from acne to sepsis, medical development of AMPs progresses despite setbacks, including some disappointing clinical trial results. (See RAMPs on Trial) But scientists are ...
