The coming crisis in antibiotics
Speaker
About this talk
Antibiotic drugs save lives. But we simply use them too much — and often for non-lifesaving purposes, like treating the flu and even raising cheaper chickens. The result, says researcher Ramanan Laxminarayan, is that the drugs will stop working for everyone, as the bacteria they target grow more and more resistant. He calls on all of us (patients and doctors alike) to think of antibiotics -- and their ongoing effectiveness -- as a finite resource, and to think twice before we tap into it. It's a sobering look at how global medical trends can strike home.
More talks to watch
- The beauty and diversity of Muslim lifeBassam Tariq
- The leaders who ruined Africa, and the generation who can fix itFred Swaniker
- Protecting Twitter users (sometimes from themselves)Del Harvey
- To solve mass violence, look to localsSeverine Autesserre
- Hidden miracles of the natural worldLouie Schwartzberg
- Why I make robots the size of a grain of riceSarah Bergbreiter