How Bald's Leechbook led to an antibiotic breakthrough

Available for over a year

A month ago we reported the news that bacteria found in animals and people in China could not be destroyed by humanity's last resort antibiotic, Colistin. Today comes the news that a gene which makes superbug bacteria resistant to Colistin has been found in pigs and humans in England and Wales. Is it possible that an answer to the problem could lie in our history? As part of our series of interviews over the festive season, PM brought together two women from the University of Nottingham whose work might interest you. Dr Freya Harrison is Research Fellow at Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, and Dr Christina Lee is Associate Professor in Viking Studies. Christina Lee starts off by explaining how they found a recipe in Bald's Leechbook, a 10th century Anglo-Saxon medical text.