When penicillin was introduced in 1940, it was considered a wonder drug. Bacterial infections that had been life-threatening could now be cured within days.[1] Today it appears that we may be reentering a pre-antibiotic era as more and more bacteria have mutated and become resistant to antibiotics.[2]

In fact, the problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria may well represent one of the greatest medical challenges in the 21st century.[3] Overuse of antibiotics and the natural …