Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens
Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens
Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens
Ebook361 pages5 hours

Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Award-winning Boston University educator and researcher Muhammad H. Zaman provides a chilling look at the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, explaining how we got here and what we must do to address this growing global health crisis.

In September 2016, a woman in Nevada became the first known case in the U.S. of a person who died of an infection resistant to every antibiotic available. Her death is the worst nightmare of infectious disease doctors and public health professionals. While bacteria live within us and are essential for our health, some strains can kill us. As bacteria continue to mutate, becoming increasingly resistant to known antibiotics, we are likely to face a public health crisis of unimaginable proportions. “It will be like the great plague of the middle ages, the influenza pandemic of 1918, the AIDS crisis of the 1990s, and the Ebola epidemic of 2014 all combined into a single threat,” Muhammad H. Zaman warns.

The Biography of Resistance is Zaman’s riveting and timely look at why and how microbes are becoming superbugs. It is a story of science and evolution that looks to history, culture, attitudes and our own individual choices and collective human behavior. Following the trail of resistant bacteria from previously uncontacted tribes in the Amazon to the isolated islands in the Arctic, from the urban slums of Karachi to the wilderness of the Australian outback, Zaman examines the myriad factors contributing to this unfolding health crisis—including war, greed, natural disasters, and germophobia—to the culprits driving it: pharmaceutical companies, farmers, industrialists, doctors, governments, and ordinary people, all whose choices are pushing us closer to catastrophe.

Joining the ranks of acclaimed works like Microbe Hunters, The Emperor of All Maladies, and Spillover, A Biography of Resistance is a riveting and chilling tale from a natural storyteller on the front lines, and a clarion call to address the biggest public health threat of our time.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateApr 21, 2020
ISBN9780062862983
Author

Muhammad H. Zaman

Muhammad H. Zaman, PhD, is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor of Biomedical Engineering and International Health at Boston University. His work has been published in Nature, Science, and Lancet Planetary Health, among other magazines. In addition, his opinion pieces and columns have appeared in leading newspapers around the world, including the New York Times, the Huffington Post, U.S. News & World Report, El País, and Japan Times; on Al Jazeera; at the World Economic Forum; and through dozens of other outlets. He lives with his family in the greater Boston area.

Related to Biography of Resistance

Related ebooks

Social Science For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Biography of Resistance

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5

1 rating0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Biography of Resistance - Muhammad H. Zaman

    zbbook_preview_excerpt.html}ےƵюnu1G!EJ"%QbixN, *ո tteb6~GKfw&.͋C-i]O>8]S| C{BgtӦ kv;g];v^uw~X/{-û'ˏn?Og׏GO7o_/]hx_x*^V{W]xMh)nz8^ć.'ūpqkoܶ6FqZcoHW[&}r-~^輚}/֟.KggDte])wIaMR Mw%>N"˞q5EԸ Aq>=()+ߜ*!/?_a<\zQT^u1>BTUx\zx3Nm7nƈ]9R m8c?J|❘.>,L}u"H塐߆Q ޟ.!1D'LSōy. :ō S+e|N$^e+W»/+I ozъTO7"N:cRYy2ᙯrcj\caBPW XXko7BR,l]9/p٨zZ޶ݱվYx{>N/XwtM#ItE?]5\ӈ6.spg]0z!9H-?3޺x輪骖G;m!ܦ8wz3cb+~Wa /=4(Xn e>:PJz&$IEOX} |5պ Q$O;y\/52`[/ZD$ M(; azj rš}|ّvPC,Čaҫ1P^r.nJž)P.Fc7b<D6cյշCwl;L#0v@ Ibwx_5Doy78x8J9}"O|A,R$,{ucv>y>w^Q zX"±Ԍ*ʤ{,ѽ>hGJfbF$lq[w]ş? d~De) "÷jDcDI=6StZ-QKB'v'Br$1u1/ռ08]zS?::& OB_ J ʣ+QO:^,S4Qq7n U5A`C(E>A2vϯt'5^nJXxyP#Ncx3rN9.9l7 }'yFRgDǠ^ToO>({ _c孈e@eG :;S;Ք55 "5-=7wC% q{]ȻxA@FqcT4Nn{\Xkrs%4DCJ!/G[vg'1qcWv7G*eoo n-J'8{!ؾ;ؑp3 H%ekd&fV-"Еtvau {q:p++1Clq;-OȎ@Q  ߿NLт"$=$f3XoZY'YIrP xiz({7f:4;fL̉W(͈W.t э&x*ȳK$ .$3}:B|':= {%o{H@: ?G9% & etBEpSNj>5%70y* F~2_t}&LXX:dv!F"rfHS^0%~JF# -\X\ B/r;hkU %-/52 Mtw81َ)'꧚1ls\(AT@l@w!V6Az>S 7c7T8U_j2!*9%JfK7]5<j *"jF!.ҙ}N &l(NLt8vgSOtX0M c/ddmkx!ƸF lSV܂[ J;˼LŮS9m=0hlVdI;0ϵ&gs_@wv0sZ%6' *]<ˏG"]9d~h>a-Ú䦙+BS/X68DWfO(H|<(RSȍ>zJ0_<%Wu[X6Muy`4bNS*꺰I u^$ 3Y<@prեr$ %_CVԕJaʔ'sOQv3יY&i˟]-Q,:ՕCa+d) ?w5\^|OtD[&sp-@M *5aG^⟞  ϻIF?W caþq8gϟ $a Ca:Zx za3,*[ddugsZ }lN[Po;8]BfT{+f>W@mov9XK\%EߴkmR;^ӧ.KT0dӻINE6"qws)'5В--#;\aAfP? D)8'2Hw2t,@<@B譯#J0aQsWAn%pPA|) 0vK4KoȳĆCgYjMȏ, !EF!-'Ѫ֖КЈ GG," 3۰S vm>b11UDŽ= uDPR|go_*q*,j4Vú>yM#ș7͂u79ZK (ԖpG{޷a#·*~,NPU*@8N3# UZU ]ͩ^SHDlD(2P2ꩼMujS EO ]š"@a-Qg~*+g$ZDŇKbkQT0PyR?.[1 b'l R }PWb{VM>*Z{U:u4ZgE]iWB1= @ƪf>qʿK&):&EHw#R[Q~E _;z`41X|eؓack F}_>JP~*X r};X]+^w۝82K,P63(DsbL DV $`_0Hb#K$#"&rk0ɴ g;OQ@w4S0 lyPԴ|?y )2 :hl:),*bD͚z?[vjS+(9՛ 6$H+Z~0ԋIC]c*'#ĺiHy._IA%Q&ϡڈ]Ћbt2 kLABJ(uQy!鋴c,EZM-Tb/P zcڹ˫x&V:m{^MG[XwW9lMAc3pRF`ؾsiA>S4C/z@(zm=)k\[N6 Ψ6d;rx6g=:6zht,hn/}?\/T_28iZ2cRs{,Rk}\5D*wJ5ҤVjC4S2pը:fQM%0?mW`URYկt b%3 _1ެ8J˸niY #a=3F>)&uh#Zִ;hSSgz=rg _|WLqաk/.ծa߱jq*$&f3<$U}Mq@cQ7:-( P/^kt];E*4"46L֓[ꐛܭ< [kBx(kΏY\۩=2Ev);\?DxY՚{{eYĔ»=evm񅴣 xu*6qcW{f>mV;\Y4;ĝYy&xFV%S)ȋ@Y;GA5Qvܩ2U#?, G$%ag.v:Vpg,pMf4Ÿٶi#t_/s›Wro2VisAЄ ~ݟi,u."Ծ"*iW* EQ^`dwrz6)>R)v]\ΔI^lP;'mS57sgDfC5c!ewtTw%Huzw~yնZXrŁ\LEk*=Z|gگ08sނ[D2g T+m*~̻h(y1뫔s#^%ɨyIg?uu`)|1FkTT孭zv =2 pIݬӨj9rq}N:J-o`qkQ\YHŬVgưz 08dl 1Ƹ*" xz$]xo Y {@NhDDR8>gf k5Z[69i` NlGo MGZqXpPrdH3~kdr/C=tCa!v-؃]?5u"q+Џ1=J4χA.w!:ct8uWY2޷]JmؓwD|-@ǁR5AρNfag:M{ar#킮C5osh~Wm96˞I=dqB\ ~cHO57Va%5D8,J6huLWpX#(Bҫ/}/[a( _XL$5ZٞX`)yZHy3&Bb1攗դ tJ(%^4;{ rCkJ eJQ DJGK R^CF,TUS/U`|OrÇLǻCyȔ}^^q~@"D 1:)_NŲ9s ב,K;  EN\I;d2)VB`Ybo&96\J^Ob*X"Lɩ[YT8 bl p"OtQ{;vU\Rl~eB-Er UY&&JLJCj%I<8GoX܅eh 31 s9v# UPd^YtWwL̆h#\U`f9m$%#fn4"t\@%(Zf/W+qQc[b/Fh([fBE(kzzY[ڒ9/n 9TTrV?Fc=V0妜ax  <ͿehɻQ _< #ntzXaɃpEA5@Pemn8#ae2[ I:#veÎȧP^m 8bFPkF&cn;Ƒ.%5 ˺ZMۻzL3J܄8}hT&o g0+@~𼗟X"#̤fSDP{x"uYN'L59bs׿_&VE߀6afџ<`fF!&%(^&a(X alBz5DwA(X>9F ,M?@Z#g#豊Ν_N"B MDԒ,M^A">V+~:,bUՑXq)H"W`6w c*Yi=vGŹ)Jm'mlnƎ6 -ȶ҉A[úJ (]pCwí2"NTB~Ʃ7U2\\Fǰ^wJox1q#' ;L4V)mZ-M~6uŕlНd7BۮW1fqs2;܏~Ea7$Auu)HF w~N[?%Mgtiʟ$XeC彽 W9^ܜ)z̔]^xZY~f_ĈN"r ݾ ;}1UNB@Bo#E}>36DYQ</uS ^7r-` `7ZZ 5HS >ai5샞< `^f6Nb]-[1.iRŬyDV@ɏ]{mc(|}!XlfҊet.uJ:Ժm%%R@MIȜtO¢gb08pY 3 e (G}hl0盝ȒO#p#=P!LC;}o=t ne@2u-KHj9|BDzƶv[H0Z{cАLBj{p;&yn F%8LZļv!n,.'H ó,I|wN @μe̘)j83͂',sI[x?w6uY1EɞG Br[γZT8WM 7ZRe  RTvSڀQ^\˸)2sVAL#Kl{¸v=-o r@N$u)QNBVs!x d< dMW2zIqCpX 8J<@m#]_~4Gk9ț4=-.bzj0oS˅Joyݳ۠0S]yUw˗sf.:ҍu&Kqڰsָ^{Bۆ=^p|՝Xҏ~ei`IhcG%X {Q[ЛUx Y;Rac`1}/T ,st'z= Xˊ!l#2ӘuiB/0a 4b7 Q(F&/y or3N@D$u}&QܣtŸM bN/e/UmS~ywer|VC7y̋={h}-A]꿕cj$!X8,-A+byVbZtIq(Yazl5 ܬ/4;/ޛ3\GA#6`N,=J0BY5`uR%.WWHb&\1\(knASolSZ> 0ɿ;3%JX^{X u6-H8-Ru%Y SO6z(Si_@YHȜCѨ|n(fߐ^v{RʼTi;̹|_9ZΝdyWA~=
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1