Biography of Resistance, Muhammad H. Zaman
Biography of Resistance, Muhammad H. Zaman
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Biography of Resistance
The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens

Author: Muhammad H. Zaman

Narrator: Kyle Tait

Unabridged: 8 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Harper Wave

Published: 04/21/2020


Synopsis

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.

About 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 LancetPlanetary 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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on March 27, 2024

On January 13, 2017, a brief article from Washoe’s [Washoe County, in Nevada] public health officials was published in the Centers for Disease Control’s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, and it sent shockwaves around the world. It was the first report of its kind—never before had a US county......more

Goodreads review by Clif on September 18, 2024

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, here’s another threat where long term benefits of a certain action is obscured by short term needs (much like climate change). Increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics is real, and thus it is in our long term interest to use antibiotics judiciously a......more

Goodreads review by Alicia on July 09, 2020

This is a deep dive into the history of how scientists discovered bacteria and antibiotics and then bungled it all. The book is approachable and easy to follow even if you're not a scientist by trade. It's extremely thorough in detailing all of the many scientists who made discoveries in this area,......more

Goodreads review by Kathleen on April 16, 2020

Fascinating. This is a subject many have turned their heads against- those who just want that antibiotic whether it is appropriate or not. Zaman has done an excellent job of expanding beyond the first world into the larger universe. He's got a great style that is never too technical or, alternately,......more

Goodreads review by Tanja on October 21, 2024

An important book on how antibiotics changed medicine - and how close we are to being without again. Resistance is spread rapidly and we don’t necessarily know if we have a benign resistant microbe in our bodies already. When we then get one that makes us sick, the bacteria exchange DNA and voilà, w......more