Antibiotic Discovery and Development
This volume covers major aspects of the antibiotic discovery and development process. The contributors, a group of highly experienced individuals in both academics and industry, include chapters on the historical perspectives of antibiotic discovery, the
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Thomas J. Dougherty
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Michael J. Pucci
Editors
Antibiotic Discovery and Development
Editors Thomas J. Dougherty Senior Principal Scientist AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP 35 Gatehouse Dr. Waltham, MA, USA [email protected]
Michael J. Pucci Executive Director Achillion Pharmaceuticals New Haven, CT, USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4614-1399-8 e-ISBN 978-1-4614-1400-1 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1400-1 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011941801 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of going to press, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
A strong case can be made that up to this point among the most important scientific achievements in history has been the discovery and development of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. During most of human history, the number one cause of death was infection. The leading killer in the pre-antibiotic era was essentially conquered by the advent of antibiotics and average human lifespan increased dramatically. Most of us do not concern ourselves to a great extent with bacterial infections that would have terrified people less than one hundred years ago. Bacterial diseases have altered history from pneumococcal pneumonia to bubonic plague to tuberculosis all killing untold millions in their process. In the last century, an assortment of pills and injections has often turned the tide in the favor of the infected host and vanquished the pathogen. Sometimes it is difficult to recall just how grim infectious diseases were prior to introduction of antibiotics. As Lewis Thomas put it in his book The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine Watcher [1]: “For most of the infectious diseases on the wards of Boston City Hospital in 1937, there was nothing that could be done beyond bed rest and good nursing care.” He notes that with the introduction of the first antibiotics “The phenomenon was almost beyond be
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