Chapter 



12 



Challenging Problems in 

 Antibiotic Research 



By HARRY EAGLE 



The positive accomplishments of antibiotic 

 research, as they relate to perspectives and horizons in 

 microbiology, are difficult to summarize. In part, this re- 

 flects the fact that most research in antibiotics has 

 centered around the development of new agents. Begin- 

 ning with their discovery by large-scale screening pro- 

 grams, and proceeding to their isolation and chemical 

 characterization, the determination of their pharmacologic 

 properties and therapeutic activity, and culminating in 

 efficient methods of production and effective pharmaceu- 

 tical formulation, the new agents represent an enormous 

 investment of time, facilities, and skills. I do not wish to 

 minimize the importance of such studies, or the value of 

 the chemical and biological data so obtained. Research in 

 that aspect of microbiological antagonism which we term 

 "antibiotic" action was motivated by the development of 

 effective agents for the treatment of disease, and that prac- 

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