**1. Introduction**

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288 Drug Discovery

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An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria. We usually associate the beginning of the modern antibacterial era with the names of Paul Ehrlich and Alexander Fleming. Infectious diseases are the leading causes of human mor‐ bidity and mortality for most of human existence. Antibacterials are probably one of the most successful forms of chemotherapy in the history of medicine. They save countless lives and make enormous contribution to the control of infectious diseases since the beginning of antibacterial era. Perhaps most of us born since the Second World War don't know how much enthusiasm, dedication, and hardship have been put in antibacterial drug discovery, and take the success of antibacterial agents too much for granted. Therefore, let's first look back what the human did to combat the infections before antibacterial era and how the out‐ standing scientists discovered so many efficient antibacterial agents used clinically today and led us enter the antibacterial era.
