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The increasing number of bacterial strains that are resistant to available pharmaceutical compounds is a vital issue for public health. Innovative approaches will be required to improve the methods for both diagnosis and destruction of these organisms. Here, we consider the possible role that can be played by technologies based on gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles generally are considered to be biologically inert but can be engineered to possess chemical or photothermal functionality. A growing body of research is devoted to the potential use of these nanoparticles in the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial infections. The results are both promising and intriguing, and suggest a range of new strategies to identify, target or destroy pathogenic organisms.