Russian Jewish-American biochemist, microbiologist, and Nobel Laureate (1888–1973)
Selman Waksman
Waksman in 1953
Born
(1888-07-22)July 22, 1888
Nova Pryluka, Kyiv Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died
August 16, 1973(1973-08-16) (aged 85)
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Citizenship
United States
Alma mater
Rutgers University University of California, Berkeley
Spouse
Deborah B. Mitnik (died 1974)
Children
Byron H. Waksman (1919–2012)[1]
Awards
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1948) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1952) Leeuwenhoek Medal (1950)
Scientific career
Fields
Biochemistry and Microbiology
Doctoral advisor
T. Brailsford Robertson
Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a Jewish Ukrainian inventor, Nobel Prize laureate, biochemist and microbiologist whose research into the decomposition of organisms that live in soil enabled the discovery of streptomycin and several other antibiotics. A professor of biochemistry and microbiology at Rutgers University for four decades, he discovered several antibiotics (and introduced the modern sense of that word to name them), and he introduced procedures that have led to the development of many others. The proceeds earned from the licensing of his patents funded a foundation for microbiological research, which established the Waksman Institute of Microbiology located at the Rutgers University Busch Campus in Piscataway, New Jersey (USA). In 1952, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "ingenious, systematic, and successful studies of the soil microbes that led to the discovery of streptomycin." Waksman and his foundation later were sued by Albert Schatz, one of his Ph.D. students and the discoverer of streptomycin, for minimizing Schatz's role in the discovery.[2]
In 2005, Selman Waksman was granted an ACS National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of the significant work of his lab in isolating more than 15 antibiotics, including streptomycin, which was the first effective treatment for tuberculosis.[3]
^"Byron H. Waksman, M.D. (AAI '50) 1919–2012". The Journal of Immunology. 189 (8): 3783–3784. 2012. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1290059. ISSN 0022-1767. S2CID 220253897.
^Kingston, William (2004-07-01). "Streptomycin, Schatz v. Waksman, and the balance of credit for discovery". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 59 (3): 441–462. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrh091. ISSN 0022-5045. PMID 15270337. S2CID 27465970.
^"Selman Waksman and Antibiotics". National Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a Jewish Ukrainian inventor, Nobel Prize laureate, biochemist and microbiologist whose research...
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disagreements over who was included in the award. The 1952 prize to SelmanWaksman was litigated in court, and half the patent rights were awarded to his...
antibiotic against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in SelmanWaksman laboratory at Rutgers University. Waksman went on to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine in...
of tuberculosis). Streptomycin was discovered in the laboratory of SelmanWaksman, although his PhD student Albert Schatz probably did most of the work...
a gram-positive bacterium discovered in 1941 by Nobel-prize-winner SelmanWaksman and H. Boyd Woodruff. Its name is derived from the Greek "strepto-"...
renamed antibiotics by SelmanWaksman, an American microbiologist, in 1947. The term antibiotic was first used in 1942 by SelmanWaksman and his collaborators...
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philosophy, electrical engineering, and anthropology. It was at Rutgers that SelmanWaksman discovered several antibiotics, including actinomycin, clavacin, streptothricin...
inorganic compounds). Another contributor, who continued to study it was SelmanWaksman. Primitive bacteria that live around deep ocean volcanic vents oxidize...
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Tadeusz Reichstein / Philip Hench 1951–1975 1951: Max Theiler 1952: SelmanWaksman 1953: Hans Krebs / Fritz Lipmann 1954: John Enders / Thomas Weller /...
Tadeusz Reichstein / Philip Hench 1951–1975 1951: Max Theiler 1952: SelmanWaksman 1953: Hans Krebs / Fritz Lipmann 1954: John Enders / Thomas Weller /...
of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects" 1952 SelmanWaksman United States / Russia / Ukraine "for his discovery of streptomycin...
crop rotation as a way of preserving soil nutrients Emil Truog 1884–1969 USA Guy D. Smith 1907–1981 USA SelmanWaksman 1888–1973 USA Soil microbiologist...
Chemistry First Russian Nobel laureate in Chemistry Soviet Union 1952 SelmanWaksman Medicine Born in Ukraine, but no Russian/USSR connection or citizenship...
antibiotic shown to have anti-cancer activity. It was first isolated by SelmanWaksman and his co-worker H. Boyd Woodruff in 1940, using fermentation products...
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