To identify FDA-approved agents targeting leukemic cells, we performed a chemical screen on two human leukemic cell lines and identified the antimicrobial tigecycline. A genome-wide screen in yeast identified mitochondrial translation inhibition as the mechanism of tigecycline-mediated lethality. Tigecycline selectively killed leukemia stem and progenitor cells compared to their normal counterparts and also showed anti-leukemic activity in mouse models of human leukemia. ShRNA-mediated knockdown of EF-Tu mitochondrial translation factor in leukemic cells reproduced the anti-leukemia activity of tigecycline. These effects were derivative of mitochondrial biogenesis which, together with an increased basal oxygen consumption, proved to be enhanced in AML versus normal hematopoietic cells and were also important for their difference in tigecycline sensitivity.