Speaking of Chemistry: Why we need antibiotics (video)

September 23rd, 2014
Antibiotics revolutionized health care in the early 20th century, helping kill bacteria that once killed thousands of people. But bacteria are also constantly outsmarting science, and new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are popping up more frequently. This week's Speaking of Chemistry focuses on the current shortage of new antibiotics and discusses the prospects for new drugs. The episode also answers the question: Why should you finish your pills if you feel better? Check it out at: http://youtu.be/MAoDuSxXIUQ. Credit: The American Chemical Society

Antibiotics revolutionized health care in the early 20th century, helping kill bacteria that once killed thousands of people. But bacteria are also constantly outsmarting science, and new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are popping up more frequently. This week's Speaking of Chemistry focuses on the current shortage of new antibiotics and discusses the prospects for new drugs. The episode also answers the question: Why should you finish your pills if you feel better? Check it out at: http://youtu.be/MAoDuSxXIUQ.

Antibiotics are just one kind of medicine that chemistry makes possible. Want to learn about cutting-edge drug discovery? Attend a FREE conference—online—from C&EN. Watch live on September 24, or see archived talks during all of 2014. Sign up at http://cenm.ag/symposium

Speaking of Chemistry is a production of Chemical & Engineering News, a weekly magazine of the American Chemical Society. The program features fascinating, weird and otherwise interesting chemistry topics. Subscribe to the series at http://youtube.com/CENOnline and follow us on @CENmag.

Provided by American Chemical Society