The overuse and misuse of antibiotics have led to the emergence and spread of micro-organisms that are resistant to them, rendering treatment ineffective and posing a serious risk to public health. This could make common bacterial diseases that are curable today impossible to treat in the future, which is why researchers around the world are searching high and low to replace existing antibiotics with a new generation of drugs. The solution to this issue however, may not come in the form of a new chemical born in a lab, but rather in prehistoric plants that have been used as medicine before humanity itself. Here’s an in-depth look into one researcher’s quest to bring ancient remedies into the future to stop the looming antibiotics crisis.
This article was originally published on September 19, 2016
