Clinical and diagnostic microbiologists detail molecular and physical methods for studying the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and facilitate new antibiotic research programs to help redress the problem. The techniques range from those that provide rapid diagnosis through DNA amplifications and phage display, to those for plotting the transmission of resistant organisms and investigating their epidemiology. As well as illuminating the basic biology of antimicrobial resistance, they also develop and implement now diagnostic and epidemiological tools.