10th April 2001: "Superbugs: Rogue diseases of the twenty-first century"

Pete Moore is an Honorary Fellow and visiting lecturer in ethics and communications at Trinity College Bristol. He has written a number of books and writes regularly for The Guardian, The Lancet, New Scientist, Practical Parenting, Zest magazine and Brain.com amongst others. He often attends conferences worldwide to report on scientific developments, most recently at the American Society for Human Genetics. He is a member of the NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme Expert Advisory Network. Born in Abingdon, Pete Moore now lives in Ashtead, Surrey.

In his new book, Dr. Moore explains that there is nothing new about infectious diseases, but in the last few decades we have become remarkably blase about them. Despite the incredible advances in modern medicine, seventeen million people die each year from such diseases, and the figure is rising. "Living in the Western world, it is easy to imagine that health for all is a given reality. Science, it seems has beaten disease into retreat - medicine is striding forward. Already, we are hearing that diseases like cancer and heart disease will soon join the list of afflictions beaten into submission. There have been one or two clear victories, and a few cease-fires, but disease-causing organisms, some so small that they can only be seen using the highest power microscopes, are very much alive and kicking. No-one is safe."

Come along and join us at 7pm in Blackwells Main Bookshop, Broad Street, Oxford.
No ticket, no booking, no scientific background required.

• Superbugs, hardback January 2001 edition: a new edition including FMD is planned for 2002.
• Killer Germs
• Babe's Shadow