Phage Therapy, CRISPR-Cas9, AMPs, and Nanotechnology Offer Potent Strategies Against Antibiotic Resistance

The escalating global crisis of antibiotic resistance (AMR) poses a severe threat to public health, rendering many conventional antibiotics ineffective. Current standard-of-care often falls short against multidrug-resistant pathogens, leading to prolonged illness, increased mortality, and higher healthcare costs. There is an urgent need for novel antimicrobial strategies that can overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms, either by directly targeting pathogens or by potentiating existing treatments. Biotechnological approaches offer innovative avenues to address this critical gap.

This article presents a comprehensive literature review of studies published between 2010 and 2025, focusing on four major biotechnological antimicrobial strategies. Researchers utilized keywords such as antimicrobial resistance, phage therapy, CRISPR-Cas9, AMPs, and nanotechnology to identify relevant literature. Both review articles and original studies, encompassing preclinical and clinical data, were considered to evaluate the current state of knowledge and potential clinical applications of these approaches in combating antibiotic resistance.

The review highlights the significant potential of several biotechnological strategies against antibiotic resistance. Phage therapy demonstrated high efficacy against antibiotic-resistant pathogens, particularly when utilizing phage cocktails and genetically engineered phages. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) exhibited broad-spectrum activity and can be structurally optimized to improve both stability and selectivity against bacterial targets. CRISPR-Cas9 systems were found to enable targeted elimination of specific resistance genes or direct disruption of pathogen genomes, offering a precise approach to disarm bacteria. Nanotechnology, especially through metal-based nanoparticles, facilitates enhanced drug delivery, improves biofilm penetration, and exhibits direct bactericidal activity. > Notably, all four biotechnological approaches show considerable potential for synergistic use with conventional antibiotics, suggesting a path to restore or augment the efficacy of existing treatments. These strategies collectively contribute to limiting the spread of resistance determinants.