Bacterial targets and antibiotics: genome-based drug discovery

The requirement for novel classes of antibiotics to combat the emergence of resistant and multi-resistant bacteria has coincided with the completion s equencing of a number of bacterial genomes. The in silico analysis of these genomes coupled with innovative genetic manipulation has already led to th e identification of conserved essential (either in vitro or in vivo, depend ing on the methodology) genes that are potential targets for antibacterial research. New technologies, made possible by access to the genomic sequence s, are capable of simultaneously quantifying almost the entire complement o f gene products synthesised by bacterial cells. These technologies are open ing up the way for the analysis of expression patterns elicited in cells in response to changes in their environment. The integration of these technol ogies into the drug discovery process is still in its infancy and the poten tial wealth of information, some of it already available, has yet to be ful ly realised.