Antibiotic resistance has been creeping up for 70 years. Prof. Jack Heinemann, discusses how its doomsday scenario in this highlight of Raising the Bar Christchurch 2023.

Hear Jack Heinemann in this highlight from the University of Canterbury's Raising the Bar Christchurch 2023

The Doomsday clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has been set closer to midnight than ever before in its history because of the risk of nuclear war.

Other doomsday clocks relating to climate change and chemical use also get lots of press. In this Raising the Bar talk, Prof. Jack Heinemann discusses another doomsday clock, relating to something which is all around us, and inside us. It's antibiotic resistance and it has been creeping up on us for about 70 years.

Antibiotic resistance isn't just a medical issue, as nearly ⅔rds of the world's food production is also at risk. Professor Heinemann talks about what preventing this doomsday requires, and how individuals have more agency in this process than they commonly realise.

The cure, he says, is one which requires an injection of new thinking.

About the speaker

Jack Heinemann

Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics in the School of Biological Sciences Jack Heinemann worked at the US National Institutes of Health before joining UC. He gained his PhD from the University of Oregon and was on the UN Roster of Biosafety Experts until 2009. From 2009 to 2016, and in 2020, he was a member of Cartagena Protocol for Biosafety's Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group. He was also an author for the International Panel for Climate change (6th report). In 1993, he won the ICAAC Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Microbiology, and the New Zealand Association of Scientists Research medal in 2002.

This session is broadcast in association with the University of Canterbury's Raising the Bar Christchurch night, held in May 2023

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details