As a microbiologist, I'm appalled when I go to
buy soap or dishwashing detergent, because these
days it's very hard to find anything that doesn't say
"antibacterial" on it. This is disturbing for a couple
of reasons. First, there's absolutely no evidence to
suggest that these antibacterial versions in any way
help to keep our homes cleaner and us safer from
disease-in fact, there's some evidence to suggest
these products contribute to the spread of antibiotic
resistance. And second, it distresses me to
see the public given the perception that bacteria are
bad and need to be eradicated
