Public sanitation and antibiotic drugs have brought about historic
increases in the human life span; they have also unintentionally
produced new health crises by disrupting the intimate, age-old balance
between humans and the microorganisms that inhabit our bodies and our
environment. As a result, antibiotic resistance now ranks among the
gravest medical problems of modern times. Good Germs, Bad Germs tells
the story of what went terribly wrong in our war on germs. It also
offers a hopeful look into a future in which antibiotics will be
designed and used more wisely, and beyond that to a day when we may
replace antibacterial drugs and cleansers with bacterial ones.