Most current antibiotics are derived from natural products made by soil bacteria called actinomycetes. The study of actinomycetes from less studied environments, including deserts and oceans, may be the key to discovering the next generation of antibiotics.

The introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s revolutionised the treatment of infectious diseases. However, the emergence of antibiotic resistance now threatens what was the most important medical innovation of the 20th century.

With collaborators across the Norwich Research Park and beyond, John Innes Centre researchers are learning how actinomycetes produce the novel and complex molecules required for antibiotic discovery.