Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Biophysics, and the Development of New Antibiotics

4.95 million deaths have been attributed to AMR in 2019. It is without a doubt one of the most deadly and difficult problems facing the field of biosciences today. It is said that bioengineering is brewing beer without the beer however, it is important to realize that there are significant biochemical pathways and reactions that are responsible for the function of antibiotics. General Physics is planning to develop a bioengineering laboratory to develop new antibiotics to tackle the AMR problem currently facing the world health system. What is also important in the development of treatment efficacy, is the proper use of antibiotics. Misuse, death, and disease are estimated to contribute a US GDP loss of $3.4 trillion by 2030. This is a tremendous amount of money, that could be saved and reallocated to other endeavors. Without a doubt, new drugs will have to be created.

Major classes of antibiotics are: beta-lactams, macrolides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, and glycopeptides. Beta lactams work by inhibiting the cell wall. They are penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and monobactams. The beta-lactam drugs have a ring structure as their base. Macrolides are azithromycin and erythromycin. They bind to the 50S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, thus inhibiting protein synthesis. Tetracyclines are doxycycline and minocycline. These bind to the 30S subunit of the bacterial ribosome. Fluoroquinolones are synthetic, broad spectrum antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. They inhibit DNA. Aminoglycosides like gentamicin and tobramycin cause a misreading of the genetic code in the bacteria by binding to the 30S ribosome of the bacterial cell. Sulfonamides also known as "sulfas" are synthetic inhibitors of folic acid. Glycopeptides like vancomycin are more serious drugs that inhibit cell walls. They are used generally for drug resistant infections.

The next generation of antibiotics will likely have to attack things like DNA replication of the bacterial cell, ribosomal protein activity, or cell wall structure. The future needs General Physics and the world to develop a novel approach to bioengineering and the biophysics of new anti-bacterial drugs.