Contents
Selman Waksman
Leading the soil-microbe research programme that produced streptomycin.
Antibiotics · Rutgers University
- Born
- 22 July 1888
- Birthplace
- Nova Pryluka, Ukraine
- Died
- 16 August 1973
More people
Selman Waksman
Selman Waksman was a microbiologist whose Rutgers laboratory systematically searched soil organisms for antibiotics. The programme produced streptomycin, while disputes over credit exposed the difference between directing research and making a discovery at the bench.
Early life
Ukrainian origins
Born into a Jewish family in what was then the Russian Empire.
American education
Emigrated in 1910, studied at Rutgers and earned a doctorate at Berkeley in 1918.
Career
- 1918 onwards
Rutgers researcher
Returned to investigate soil microorganisms and their chemistry.
- 1930s–1940s
Antibiotic programme
Organised systematic screening for substances that inhibited bacteria.
- 1952
Nobel Prize
Received the medicine Nobel for work associated with streptomycin.
- 1954 onwards
Research institute
Directed the Rutgers institute supported by antibiotic patent income.
Selected work
Actinomycin
His laboratory isolated an early antibiotic with powerful but toxic effects.
Streptomycin
Albert Schatz, Elizabeth Bugie and Waksman published the laboratory’s discovery.
Neomycin
The programme produced another antibiotic from soil microorganisms.
Beyond work
Credit dispute
Schatz pursued legal recognition and royalties; a settlement acknowledged him as a co-discoverer of streptomycin.
Research support
Used patent income to establish a foundation supporting microbiology.
Sources & photo credit
Biography ↗Life and work ↗Life and birthday ↗Photo: New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Higgins, Roger, photographer.. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
