The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology is a unique compilation of reviews addressing frontiers in biologicals as a rich source for innovative medicines. This book fulfills the needs of a broad community of scientists interested in biologicals from diverse perspectives—basic research, biotechnology, protein engineering, protein delivery, medicines, pharmaceuticals and vaccinology. The diverse topics range from advanced biotechnologies aimed to introduce novel, potent engineered vaccines of unprecedented efficacy and safety for a wide scope of human diseases to natural products, small peptides and polypeptides engineered for discrete prophylaxis and therapeutic purposes. Modern biologicals promise to dramatically expand the scope of preventive medicine beyond the infectious disease arena into broad applications in immune and cancer treatment, as exemplified by anti-EGFR receptors antibodies for the treatment of breast cancer. The exponential growth in biologicals such as engineered proteins and vaccines has been boosted by unprecedented scientific breakthroughs made in the past decades culminating in an in-depth fundamental understanding of the scientific underpinnings of immune mechanisms together with knowledge of protein and peptide scaffolds that can be deliberately manipulated. This has in turn led to new strategies and processes. Deciphering the human, mammalian and numerous pathogens’ genomes provides opportunities that never before have been available—identification of discrete antigens (genomes and antigenomes) that lend themselves to considerably improved antigens and monoclonal antibodies, which with more sophisticated engineered adjuvants and agonists of pattern recognition receptors present in immune cells, deliver unprecedented safety and efficacy. Technological development such a nanobiotechnologies (dendrimers, nanobodies and fullerenes), biological particles (viral-like particles and bacterial ghosts) and innovative vectors (replication-competent attenuated, replication-incompetent recombinant and defective helper-dependent vectors) fulfill a broad range of cutting-edge research, drug discovery and delivery applications. Most recent examples of breakthrough biologicals include the human papilloma virus vaccine (HPV, prevention of women genital cancer) and the multivalent Pneumoccocal vaccines, which has virtually eradicated in some populations a most prevalent bacterial ear infection (i.e., otitis media). It is expected that in the years to come similar success will be obtained in the development of vaccines for diseases which still represent major threats for human health, such as AIDS, as well as for the generation of improved vaccines against diseases like pandemic flu for which vaccines are currently available. Furthermore, advances in comparative immunology and innate immunity revealed opportunities for innovative strategies for ever smaller biologicals and vaccines derived from species such as llama and sharks, which carry tremendous potential for innovative biologicals already in development stages in many pharmaceutical companies. Such recent discoveries and knowledge exploitations hold the promise for breakthrough biologicals, with the coming decade. Finally, this book caters to individuals not directly engaged in the pharmaceutical drug discovery process via a chapter outlining discovery, preclinical development, clinical development and translational medicine issues that are critical the drug development process. The authors and editors hope that this compilation of reviews will help readers rapidly and completely update knowledge and understanding of the frontiers in pharmaceutical biotechnologies.

In January of 2015, under the 1st International Caparica Conference in Antibiotic Resistance, a Research Topic entitled: “Surveying Antimicrobial Resistance: Approaches, Issues, and Challenges to overcome”, was published (http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/3763/surveying-antimicrobial-resistanceapproaches- issues-and-challenges-to-overcome). The problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), caused by excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics, is a public health issue that concerns us all. The introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, the start of the antibiotics era, has been recognized as one of the greatest advances in therapeutic medicine. However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), AMR infections are now an increasing worldwide public health threat and a post-antibiotic era is imminent, where common infections and minor injuries could be fatal. AMR is a typical ‘One Health’ problem, in which livestock animals and the environment constitute AMR reservoirs and transmission routes to and from the human population. Without effective antimicrobials to counter and prevent infections, other major achievements in modern medicine, such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy and major surgery, risk being compromised. AMR infections in animals have negative outcomes on animal health, welfare, biosecurity and production. In 2006, the ban of growth promoting antibiotics highlighted antibiotic use in animal production as a risk factor in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Bacteria can be transferred to humans via several routes; consumption of animal products, exposure through contact with animals, and the contamination of ground and surface waters by animal waste products. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that antimicrobial use in animals is reduced to a minimum, without compromising animal health and welfare. Mechanisms of bacterial antibiotic resistance are classified according to the types of antibiotic molecules or their targets in the cell. Environmental antibiotic-resistance genes are spread then acquired by clinically relevant microorganisms. Many resistance genes are conveyed into pathogen genomes via mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, transposons or integrons, increasing the propagation of potential resistant pathogens. Substantial progress has already been made in elucidating the basic regulatory networks that endow bacteria with their extraordinary capacity to adapt to a diversity of lifestyles and external stress factors. So how will we face bacteria in the future?

Given in memory of Charles Hudson Edge, Laura James Edge, by Eugene Edge III.