This document discusses research on antibiotic-producing actinomycetes, both past and present. It notes that during the 1940s and 1950s, many important antibiotic classes were discovered from actinomycetes, including tetracyclines, cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides. However, more recent high-throughput screening approaches targeting specific enzymes have not yielded any new antibiotics approved for clinical use. The document argues for returning to traditional whole cell screening of actinomycete broths, which more quickly identifies biologically active compounds.