Oxford University biologist Liam Shaw tells the fascinating history of antibiotics—and how we burned through them.

The discovery of antibiotics was one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Since their advent less than a century ago, antibiotics have saved millions of lives, marking one of the greatest medical advances in our history. But much like oil in the previous century, they were not invented but discovered—the most effective antibiotics were found in nature, made by microbes. Antibiotics have been a cheap everlasting fuel that has powered modern medicine, but at a cost. For antibiotics aren’t like other drugs. Every time we used them, we increased the possibility of antibiotic resistance emerging. Every time we used them, we were risking their future effectiveness. Even if it didn’t seem like it, there was only ever a finite supply. Antibiotics are the fossil fuels of medicine: they are “fossil drugs.”

How did we get here? In order to understand the future of antibiotics, we need to understand their past. Dangerous Miracle tells the story of antibiotics: weaving the grand arc of their evolution over millions of years with a history of the past century. Antibiotic resistance shows how easily bacteria have been able to undo human progress. If we want antibiotics to have a future, we need to prepare to adapt accordingly. And fast.

Dangerous Miracle is a revelatory account of the miraculous history and uncertain future of antibiotics from a young and gifted Oxford biologist.

Liam Shaw is a biologist researching the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. After completing his PhD at University College London, for the past four years he has worked as a Wellcome-funded research fellow at the University of Oxford. His essays and journalism have appeared in the London Review of Books, Morning Star, and Private Eye.