Save the Germs

In the century that has passed, the use of antibiotics made many diseases disappear from the modern world. But now drug-resistant forms of some horrible bug have appeared — and we have little and sometimes nothing in our medicine chest with which to fight them. Enamored of the antibiotics’ power, medicine has over-prescribed them, making new pandemics possibles when resistant strains of bacteria have been selected.

A group of infectious disease specialists and  microbiologists have proposed the formation of a resource of the world's bacteria be established to "save the bugs."*  This Op-Ed piece in the NY Times serves as a good introduction to this topic.

See Save the Germs by Sarah Schenck (11.19.18)

Ms. Schenck is co-director and co-producer of a documentary being made about the critical role of microbes in human health. 

* Preserving microbial diversity. Bello MGD, Knight R, Gilbert JA, Blaser MJ. Science. 2018 Oct 5;362(6410):33-34