Introduction:

The increase in antimicrobial resistance is currently a dangerous threat to health. Faced with this global problem of lack of antimicrobials, it is imperative to intervene in a coordinated manner and devise formulas to encourage research at the international level.

Objective:

To review on the update causes and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and the adaptation of CRISPR/Cas system for the development of innovative antimicrobials as an essential part of a highly specific strategy in the treatment of infections caused by resistant bacteria.

Methods:

A documentary review was carried out in the specialized national and international bibliography published in the last 5 years. Google Scholar search engine was used and free access articles were consulted in Pubmed, SciELO, LILACS, CUMED and HINARI databases, from March 2020 to January 2021. A total of 41 articles were retrieved. The consultations were made in English and Spanish. For the search, we took into account the keywords eligobiotics, antibiotic resistance, CRISPR/Cas.

Results:

The reviewed evidence supports that many diseases are induced by alterations in the balance of the human microbiota; and CRISPR/Cas gene editing technique will allow the development of novel antibiotics such as eligobiotics that will eliminate multi-resistant pathogenic bacteria and leave the microbiome intact. Conclusions: The clarification of the enigmas of the microbiota and its design with gene therapy will allow the progress of innovative antibiotics using CRISPR/Cas system that will inevitably change medical practice forever.

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