Speaker: Satya Sagar

They are tiny, invisible living organisms which are key to the survival and propagation of all life on Planet Earth.

And yet, the key metaphors used in the description of bacteria and infection are drawn from warfare –‘resistant’ bacteria ‘invading’ our bodies, antibiotics as ‘magic bullets’ and so on. How does this mentality of the battle field- affect the very questions of medical research on infectious diseases? Are we imposing deep rooted social and political prejudices on the concepts of medicine and our understanding of bacteria?

Modern medicine in turn has also become the source of new terms for warfare. Terrorism is compared to an ‘infectious disease’, the ‘terrorist’ dubbed a ‘virus’ and the response involves carrying out ‘surgical strikes’ to create ‘sterile zones’. It is an approach to which ‘resistance’ and death can be the only logical outcome.

Is it time for us to change the way we look at both microbes and terrorists?