The Marine Ecosystem as a Source of Antibiotics

Abstract

There has been a decline in the development of antibiotics over the past few decades. Following the discovery of penicillin in 1928, 15–20 new antibiotics were developed each decade. However, in the last 10 years, only six have been marketed. In addition to this decrease in the development of new antimicrobial agents, the number of bacteria showing multiresistance to the existing antibiotics has raised an important problem in clinical settings. There is, therefore, a need to find new molecules with antimicrobial activity. In this regard, nature is an enormous source of biodiversity and may provide us with new molecules from plants, fungi, and other macro- and microorganisms. Indeed, the seas and oceans are currently being investigated in the search for new molecules. Nowadays, about 100 million species make up the earth’s waters, and these organisms could be an important source of chemical substances active against infectious diseases.