Since the traditional antimicrobial drugs are prone to trigger the drug resistance of bacteria and turn the bacteria into so called super-bacteria

novel antimicrobial drugs with different antimicrobial mechanism are desired. Polymeric antimicrobial agents mimicking the natural antimicrobial peptides with high antibacterial capability and good bio-selectivity

plus their simple synthesis

easy control of chemical structure and applicability of large scale industrial production

have been regarded as the next generation of antimicrobial drugs to replace the antibiotics. In this review

the concept of mimicking natural antimicrobial peptides and the development of polymeric antimicrobial drugs are introduced

and the structures

properties

and the factors determining the antimicrobial and bio-selective properties of polymeric antimicrobial drugs are discussed.