A new weapon in the fight against superbugs | David Brenner
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 12.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 December 2017
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
Since the widespread use of antibiotics began in the 1940s, we've tried to develop new drugs faster than bacteria can evolve -- but this strategy isn't working. Drug-resistant bacteria known as superbugs killed nearly 700,000 people last year, and by 2050 that number could be 10 million -- more than cancer kills each year. Can physics help? In a talk from the frontiers of science, radiation scientist David Brenner shares his work studying a potentially life-saving weapon: a wavelength of ultraviolet light known as far-UVC, which can kill superbugs safely, without penetrating our skin. Followed by a Q&A with TED Curator Chris Anderson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This TED Talk features radiation scientist David Brenner, recorded live at TED 2017. |
| 0:09.0 | So, we're in a real live war at the moment, and it's a war that we're truly losing. |
| 0:16.0 | It's a war on superbugs. |
| 0:21.0 | So you might wonder if I'm going to talk about superbugs, |
| 0:25.2 | why I'm showing you a photograph of some soccer fans, |
| 0:29.2 | some Liverpool soccer fans, |
| 0:31.3 | celebrating a famous victory in Istanbul a decade ago. |
| 0:35.8 | Well, in the back, in the red shirt, well, that's me. |
| 0:39.7 | And next to me in the red hat, that's my friend Paul Rice. |
| 0:44.7 | So a couple of years after this picture was taken, |
| 0:48.3 | Paul went into hospital for some minor surgery. |
| 0:52.0 | And he developed a superbug-related infection, |
| 0:56.3 | and he died. |
| 0:58.2 | And I was truly shocked. |
| 1:00.9 | He was a healthy guy in the prime of life. |
| 1:04.2 | So there and then, |
| 1:05.5 | and actually with a lot of encouragement from a couple of Tedsters, |
| 1:09.1 | I declared my own personal war on superbugs. |
| 1:13.4 | So let's talk about superbugs for a moment. |
| 1:16.2 | So the story actually starts in the 1940s |
| 1:19.4 | with the widespread introduction of antibiotics. |
| 1:23.6 | And since then, |
... |
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