Searching underwater in Panama Searching underwater in Panama

What do sloths, alligators and Komodo dragons have to do with antibiotics? The Antibiotic Hunters follows drug researchers as they become jungle hunters, deep-sea divers, and cave explorers — all in an urgent search for the building blocks of new antibiotics.

Many of our current antibacterial drugs have lost their effectiveness due to overuse, so now scientists have to hunt in remote and unexplored places for new bacteria with unique toxins that could be lethal to human germs.

Listen to an interview with director Bruce Mohun online.

Without new antibiotics, experts are predicting a “post-antibiotic era”, in which the simplest of infections could turn deadly because they’re impossible to treat. Already, up to 12,000 Canadians are dying each year from antibiotic-resistant infections.

It’s been called the most pressing global health problem of our time. And now, the solution could lie in the slimy fur of jungle sloths or the saliva of Komodo dragons.