The article provides a comprehensive overview of the research on microbial metabolites, including antibiotics and other bioactive compounds. It discusses the short history, specific features, and future prospects of this field. The author, János Bérdy, highlights the microbial origin, diversity of producing species, functions, and various bioactivities of these metabolites, as well as their unique chemical structures. The article also addresses the challenges of dereplication of newly isolated compounds and the trends in research. Key points include: - The discovery and development of antibiotics over the past half-century. - The interdisciplinary nature of the field, involving organic chemistry, pharmacology, and microbiology. - The increasing number of known compounds, producers, and bioactivities. - The distribution of bioactive natural products across different types of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. - The specific characteristics of microbial metabolites, such as their microbial origin, interaction with the environment, and unique chemical structures. - The biological activities of these metabolites, including antimicrobial, antitumor, antiviral, and other pharmacological activities. - The statistical evaluations of the numbers of known compounds, producers, and bioactivities. - The potential for future discovery and the challenges in identifying new bioactive compounds. The article emphasizes the importance of microbial metabolites in natural products research and their potential applications in medicine, agriculture, and other fields. It also discusses the need for new methods and technologies to discover and characterize these compounds.The article provides a comprehensive overview of the research on microbial metabolites, including antibiotics and other bioactive compounds. It discusses the short history, specific features, and future prospects of this field. The author, János Bérdy, highlights the microbial origin, diversity of producing species, functions, and various bioactivities of these metabolites, as well as their unique chemical structures. The article also addresses the challenges of dereplication of newly isolated compounds and the trends in research. Key points include: - The discovery and development of antibiotics over the past half-century. - The interdisciplinary nature of the field, involving organic chemistry, pharmacology, and microbiology. - The increasing number of known compounds, producers, and bioactivities. - The distribution of bioactive natural products across different types of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. - The specific characteristics of microbial metabolites, such as their microbial origin, interaction with the environment, and unique chemical structures. - The biological activities of these metabolites, including antimicrobial, antitumor, antiviral, and other pharmacological activities. - The statistical evaluations of the numbers of known compounds, producers, and bioactivities. - The potential for future discovery and the challenges in identifying new bioactive compounds. The article emphasizes the importance of microbial metabolites in natural products research and their potential applications in medicine, agriculture, and other fields. It also discusses the need for new methods and technologies to discover and characterize these compounds.