2023-07-10 10:18:06
He was born in the village Nova Pryluka, 35 km northwest of Vinnitsa and 220 km southwest of kyiv.
Waksman (1888-1973), of Jewish origin, attended secondary school in the city of Odesa. In 1910 he moved to the United States, where he enrolled at Rutgers University (New Jersey), to study Agriculture. After studying biochemistry, he received his doctorate in this specialty from the University of California. In 1916, following obtaining American citizenship, he assumed the direction of the Department of Microbiology at Rutgers University.
He studied how pathogenic microorganisms, such as tuberculosis, were destroyed in the soil. Investigating this fact, he discovered that certain microorganisms were responsible for this destruction, among them a bacterium that he named Streptomyces griseus.
The first antibiotic Waksman discovered was actinomycin, which initially might not be used due to its high toxicity.
Streptomycin and the Nobel Prize
Three years later, Albert Schatz, who was Waksman’s graduate student in Microbiology, discovered streptomycin, the second useful antibiotic in the history of mankind – the first antibiotic, penicillin, had been discovered by Alexander Fleming (1881-1955). )-. Waksman, using his prestige as a microbiologist, published an article claiming credit for the discovery. Waksman systematically denied the genius of his graduate student and for years profited from patents on the discovery. Albert Schatz sued him, and eventually they reached an agreement that recognized Schatz as a co-discoverer and granted him part of the economic rights of the patent. Despite the agreement, in 1952 the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology to Waksman alone for his “ingenious, systematic and successful studies of soil microorganisms, which led to the discovery of streptomycin”, considering Schatz as a mere helper.
Waksman went on to direct the microbiology institute at Rutgers University, where other antibiotics such as neomycin were developed. He used part of the money received from the streptomycin patent to finance the institute itself, as well as the foundation that bears his name.
Waksman died in the city of Woods Hole (Massachusetts) in 1973. Upon his death, the institute where he worked all his life was renamed the Waksman Institute of Microbiology.
Since 1968, the National Academy of Sciences of the United States has awarded the biennial award that bears his name to outstanding researchers in the field of microbiology.
Source: Wikipedia
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