Superbugs (WIRED guides): How to prevent the next global health threat

The number of people dying due to drug-resistant diseases is rising every year. What medical weapons and technologies are being developed to stop this existential threat to all of us?

In this brilliantly wide-ranging, one-stop guide WIRED journalist Victoria Turk outlines the reasons for this major crisis in medicine and the steps being taken to control it. She explains the reasons why antibiotics no longer have the miraculous force they once did, and why so many drugs that were once so effective are now falling short. She considers the implications for the future, not just in terms of individual health but humankind’s ability to counter pandemics. She looks at the latest research into new antibiotics, preventative medicine, diagnostic techniques and resistance-resistant treatments. And she addresses the fundamental question: are new medical breakthroughs sufficient to safeguard our health in the future?