Intelligence Squared How can we win the battle against antibiotic resistance? With Liam Shaw
Aug 17, 2025
Liam Shaw, a biologist and author of Dangerous Miracle, dives into the escalating threat of antibiotic resistance. He discusses the historical marvel of antibiotics and how they've become a medical crisis likened to fossil fuels. Shaw highlights the roles of Big Pharma and farming in this crisis, while proposing innovative solutions, including AI-designed antibiotics. He calls for bold reforms in antibiotic development and payment models, emphasizing the urgent need for a paradigm shift to ensure their future effectiveness.
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Antibiotics Are Natural Products
- Most clinical antibiotics derive from natural molecules produced by soil microbes and fungi that evolved to fight other microbes.
- Humanity only learned to harness and mass-manufacture these compounds in the 20th century, starting with penicillin.
Antibiotics Underpin Modern Medicine
- Modern surgery and many cancer treatments rely fundamentally on antibiotics to prevent and treat infections.
- If antibiotics lose effectiveness, the scope and safety of advanced medical procedures would shrink dramatically.
Resistance Was Foreseeable And Rapid
- Resistance was recognized almost from the start and appeared quickly as antibiotics were used at scale.
- Responses split between optimism about new drug discovery and pessimism about inevitable failure; reality lies between.
