Over the past decade, the rate of bacterial resistance to known antibiotics has increased dramatically.  This issue has forced scientists to attempt to find new therapies to treat infection.  Traditional methods, such as antibiotics, target bacterial reproduction.  A new class of therapies targets the disease causing capabilities of the bacterium.  For example, Escherichia coli is the leading cause of urinary tract infections in women.  It colonizes the host through the actions of pili (fimbriae).  New molecules called pilicides have been shown to prevent the assembly of pili by uropathogenic E. coli.