Exploring fungal biodiversity for the next generation of medicines

The diminishment of antibiotic effectiveness, alongside a reduction of pharmaceutical companies able to produce them, has resulted in an antibiotic crisis globally. The first European training platform for the production of novel bioactive compounds based on fungal synthetic biology and supported by the EU, holds out hope for future medicines.

There is growing concern that the overuse of antibiotics globally has led to a pronounced rise in multiresistant bacteria, that cannot be controlled by the current range of drugs. Researchers are exploring a wide range of potential bioactive molecules, as sources for new pharmaceuticals, including amongst filamentous (thread-like) fungi, due to their generation of natural products called secondary metabolites.

Further details: Exploring fungal biodiversity for the next generation of medicines