Driving to Safety: CRISPR-Based Genetic Approaches to Reducing Antibiotic Resistance

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has reached critical levels, skyrocketing in hospitals and the environment and posing a major threat to global public health. The complex and challenging problem of reducing antibiotic resistance (AR) requires a network of both societal and science-based solutions to preserve the most lifesaving pharmaceutical intervention known to medicine. In addition to developing new classes of antibiotics, it is essential to safeguard the clinical efficacy of existing drugs. In this review, we examine the potential application of novel CRISPR-based genetic approaches to reducing AR in both environmental and clinical settings and prolonging the utility of vital antibiotics. Since their introduction, antibiotics have reduced human mortality rates from infectious diseases by 80% [1]. Unfortunately, antibiotic resistance (AR) among leading bacterial pathogens is currently estimated to cost >700 000 lives annually [2], nearly equal to the mortality attributed to all the world's most deadly mosquito-borne diseases combinedi [3]. Widespread overprescription of antibiotics and their misuse in animal husbandry have increased the prevalence of AR in medical facilities [4] and in the environment [5-7]. Evidence indicates that environmental sources

Automated summary

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has reached critical levels, necessitating societal and science-based solutions to reduce resistance and preserve the life-saving effects of antibiotics.