Using Fungi to Combat Drug-Resistant Candida: Methods to Increase the Possibility and Reduce the Cost and Time for Finding New Antifungal Compounds.

The most common fungal infections in humans are caused by five species of Candida including C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. krusei. Although they generally cause non-severe, mild infection, Candida species cause life-threatening bloodstream infection (candidemia) and infection of internal organs (invasive candidiasis) in patients with compromised immunity or treated with invasive medical devices. The recent evolution of multidrug resistance among Candida species, the limited choice of antifungal medicines, and the reluctance of drug manufacturers to discover novel medicines are projecting Candida infection as a major global health threat. We stress here the importance of exploring fungi from less studied and extreme habitats and varying the culture conditions to increase the chance of finding novel anti-Candida drugs. We also bring into focus a crowd sourcing model involving students, faculty and research labs to reduce the time and cost of discovering such novel drugs.