Preface

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted our human incapacity to control infections. Pathogens of all forms and types are fast learners, and their mutations, spread and virulence can overwhelm the entire health care system within weeks. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed our inability to quickly come up with treatment and prevention regimes, despite the tremendous progress in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences. In the post COVID-19 world major attention to the surveillance, prevention, and treatment of infections of all kinds is expected. Research on infections and anti-infectious drug discovery is already truly interdisciplinary in nature, and is published in journals of diverse disciplines, such as microbiology, molecular and structural biology, genomics, immunology, epidemiology, etc. It is imperative that the most exciting discoveries in this field are compiled as critically written reviews in frontier areas.

The aim of the book series “Frontiers in Anti-infectious Drug Discovery” is to focus on recent important developments. Experts in various important aspects of anti-infectious drug discovery have therefore contributed review articles on the most recent advancements. Volume 8, like the previous volumes, of this well received book series, comprises eight (8) scholarly written review articles on certain key aspects. These include genomic based identification of new drug targets and metagenomics for antimicrobials; fragment-based approach for drug designing, and of various types of antimicrobials ranging from synthetic analogs against coronaviruses, to bacterial phages against infections, nanoparticle based agents, as well as aptamers.

The chapter contributed by Gisbert and McNicholl focuses on the key advantages of concomitant non-bismuth quadruple therapy for a range of infections caused by Helicobactor pylori. Silva-Junior et al have presented an interesting review on the discovery and development of bioactive drug leads against the recent pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, based on analogs developed during the past SARS and MERS epidemics. Advances and challenges in fragment-based designing of new antibiotics is the key focus of the article by Kwan et al, supported by numerous examples. Foodborne bacterial infections are widespread. Ilyina et al review the recent applications of phage therapies as alternatives to antimicrobials for the treatment of food borne bacterial infections. Amjad et al have contributed a chapter on the applications of subtractive genomics to identify essential genes involved in crucial metabolic pathways of pathogens, and validating their protein products as novel drug targets. Metagonomics has emerged as a key technique for the discovery of novel antibiotics from yet uncultured microbes. The tremendous pool of new antimicrobials in unexplored microbial flora is the focus of the review by Chopra et al. Zameer has contributed a chapter on the use of nanoparticles as drug careers of synthetic and natural antimicrobial agents. In the last chapter, Syed et al have touched upon an important new field of the use of aptamers (oligonucleotides or peptide molecules) as novel diagnostic and anti-infective agents.

We would to express our sincere thanks eminent to all the authors for their excellent contributions in this vibrant, and exciting field of biomedical and pharmaceutical research. The efforts of Ms. Fariya Zulfiqar (Manager Publications) and the excellent management of Mr. Mahmood Alam (Director Publications) are also gratefully acknowledged.