Russian Jewish-American biochemist, microbiologist, and Nobel Laureate (1888?1973)
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]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Selman Waksman was born on July 22, 1888 (July 8 according to the old Russian calendar
[4]
), to
Jewish
parents, in Nova Pryluka,
Kyiv Governorate
,
Russian Empire
,
[5]
now
Vinnytsia Oblast
, Ukraine. He was the son of Fradia (London) and Jacob Waksman.
[6]
In 1910, shortly after receiving his diploma from the Fifth Gymnasium in
Odesa
, he immigrated to the United States and became a
naturalized American citizen
six years later.
[7]
Waksman attended
Rutgers College
(now Rutgers University), where he graduated in 1915 with a
Bachelor of Science
in agriculture. He continued his studies at Rutgers, receiving a
Master of Science
the following year, in 1916. During his graduate study, he worked under
J. G. Lipman
at the
New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
at Rutgers performing research in soil bacteriology. Waksman spent some months in 1915?1916 at the
United States Department of Agriculture
in
Washington, DC
under
Charles Thom
, studying soil fungi.
[8]
: 44?48
He was appointed as a research fellow at the
University of California, Berkeley
, and in 1918 he was awarded his
doctor of philosophy
in biochemistry.
Career
[
edit
]
He joined the faculty at
Rutgers University
in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology.
At Rutgers, Waksman's team discovered several antibiotics, including
actinomycin
,
clavacin
, streptothricin,
streptomycin
, grisein,
neomycin
, fradicin,
candicidin
, candidin. Waksman co-discovered streptomycin with
Albert Schatz
. Streptomycin was the first effective drug against gram-negative bacteria
[3]
and the first
antibiotic
used to cure
tuberculosis
. Waksman is credited with coining the term antibiotics, to describe
antibacterials
derived from other living organisms, for example
penicillin
, though the term was used by the French dermatologist
Francois Henri Hallopeau
, in 1871 to describe a substance opposed to the development of life.
[
citation needed
]
In 1931 Waksman organized the division of Marine Bacteriology at the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(WHOI) in addition to his task at Rutgers.
[6]
He was appointed as a marine bacteriologist there and served until 1942. He was elected a trustee at WHOI and finally a Life Trustee.
In 1951,
[9]
using half of his patent
royalties
, Waksman created the Waksman Foundation for Microbiology.
[10]
At a meeting of the board of trustees of the foundation, held in July 1951, he urged the building of a facility for work in microbiology, named the
Waksman Institute of Microbiology
, which is located on the
Busch Campus
of Rutgers University in
Piscataway, New Jersey
. The first president of the foundation, Waksman was succeeded in this position by his son, Byron H. Waksman, from 1970 to 2000.
[
citation needed
]
Research
[
edit
]
Streptomycin
[
edit
]
Waksman had been studying the
Streptomyces
family of organisms since his college student days and had, for a time, been studying the organism
Streptomyces griseus
. Streptomycin was isolated from
S. griseus
and found effective against
tuberculosis
by one of Waksman's graduate students,
Albert Schatz
.
[11]
These results were later confirmed by
Elizabeth Bugie
Gregory, whose name was also published on "Streptomycin, a Substance Exhibiting Antibiotic Activity Against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria" with Schatz and Waksman.
[12]
However, Bugie's name was not on the second key paper in 1944, which was regarding the efficacy of streptomycin against tuberculosis in test tubes, as Schatz claimed Bugie was not involved with the experiment.
[12]
Bugie was also not given credit for her work on streptomycin, nor was she listed on the patent proposal, as she signed an affidavit stating that she did not have any contribution in discovering streptomycin.
[13]
This was submitted under an attorney of the Rutgers Research and Endowment Foundation.
[
citation needed
]
Controversy
[
edit
]
The details and credit for the discovery of streptomycin and its usefulness as an antibiotic were strongly contested by
Albert Schatz
, leading to litigation in 1950.
[14]
However, it was possible that Waksman did not see Schatz's contribution as significantly as Schatz saw his contributions. Waksman noted that Schatz was away at the military in 1943, adding that he was only in the lab for three months and only played a small role in discovering streptomycin.
[15]
[12]
Waksman and Rutgers settled out of court with Schatz, resulting in financial remuneration and entitlement to "legal and scientific credit as co-discoverer of streptomycin."
[16]
[17]
Schatz was awarded $120,000 for patent rights and 3% of royalties.
[18]
The Lancet
[19]
claimed that "the Nobel committee made a considerable mistake by failing to recognize Schatz's contribution."
Systematic experiments to test several strains of antibiotics against several different disease organisms were underway in Waksman's laboratory at the time. Their classic approach was to explore a complete matrix with rows consisting of antibiotics and columns consisting of different diseases. The bacteria which produced the antibiotic streptomycin were discovered by Schatz in the farmland outside his lab and tested by him.
[16]
Waksman, however, eventually came to claim sole credit for the discovery.
[
citation needed
]
The controversy of streptomycin between Waksman and Schatz brought to light the challenges of distributing credit for scientific research, discoveries, and patents.
[2]
It prompted schools and universities to become more involved in the patenting process and to have more regulations on how credit is dispersed. Schools would also provide clearer lines for each individual's role in a lab to minimize future litigations against the school.
[2]
Neomycin
[
edit
]
Neomycin is derived from actinomycetes and was discovered by Waksman and Hubert A. Lechevalier, one of Waksman's graduate students. The discovery was published in the journal
Science
.
[20]
Marine bacteria
[
edit
]
Waksman's research also examined the role of bacteria in marine systems, with a particular focus on the role of bacteria in nutrient cycles. Waksman examined the degradation of
alginic acid
,
[21]
cellulose,
[22]
and zooplankton.
[23]
Waksman, working with Cornelia Carey,
Margaret Hotchkiss
,
Yvette Hardman
, and Donald Johnston, conducted multiple studies on the actions of bacteria in marine systems which included quantifying the abundance
[24]
and viability of bacteria in seawater.,
[25]
examining the impact of copper on bacterial growth,
[26]
estimating the impact of bacterial activity on the nitrogen cycle,
[27]
[28]
and a separation of bacteria into groups based on habitat use in seawater, on plankton, or in the sediments.
[29]
Other tributes involve
anti-fouling paint
for the Navy, the use of
enzymes
in
laundry detergents
, and the practice of
Concord grape
rootstock
to safeguard French vineyards from fungal infections.
[
citation needed
]
Awards and honors
[
edit
]
Waksman acquired many awards and honors, including the
Nobel Prize
in 1952; the Star of the Rising Sun granted to him by the emperor of Japan, and the rank of
Commandeur
in the French
Legion d'honneur
.
[5]
[30]
[31]
During his Nobel Prize award presentation, Waksman was called "one of the greatest benefactors to mankind," as the result of his discovery of streptomycin.
[32]
Schatz protested being left out of the award, even sending a letter to
Gustaf VI Adolf
, the King of Sweden, but the State did not have any influence over the Nobel Prize Committee's decision and they ruled that he was a mere lab assistant working under a scientist.
[15]
[16]
The
Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
of the
National Academy of Sciences
is given in his honor.
[33]
Publications
[
edit
]
Selman Waksman was the author or
co-author
of over 400 scientific papers, as well as 28 books
[5]
and 14 scientific pamphlets.
- Enzymes
(1926)
- Humus: origin, chemical composition, and importance in nature
(1936, 1938)
- Principles of Soil Microbiology
(1927, 1932)
- My Life with the Microbes
(1954) (an autobiography)
Personal life
[
edit
]
Waksman was married to Deborah B. Mitnik. They had one son, Byron H. Waksman, M.D., who was an assistant professor at Harvard University Medical School, and Professor of Microbiology at Yale University Medical School.
[6]
Selman Waksman died on August 16, 1973, at a Hyannis, Massachusetts Hospital and was interred at the Woods Hole Village Cemetery in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
. His tombstone is inscribed "Selman Abraham Waksman: Scientist", with his dates of birth and death, and the epitaph "The earth will unlock and fetch ahead salvation" in
Hebrew
and English, from
Isaiah 45:8
.
[5]
[34]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"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
.
- ^
a
b
c
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
.
- ^
a
b
"Selman Waksman and Antibiotics"
.
National Historic Chemical Landmarks
.
American Chemical Society
. Retrieved
2014-02-21
.
- ^
"Selman Waksman and Antibiotics - Landmark"
.
American Chemical Society
. Retrieved
2022-10-03
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"The Foundation and Its History"
. waksman-foundation.org (No further authorship information available). Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2016
. Retrieved
January 11,
2007
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Selman A. Waksman - Biographical"
.
www.nobelprize.org
. Retrieved
April 9,
2018
.
- ^
(ru)
// Виталий Орлов. Зельман Ваксман ? открыватель препарата против туберкулеза // Я - Одессит, 24.09.2022
- ^
Ryan, Frank (1993).
The forgotten plague: how the battle against tuberculosis was won?and lost
. Boston: Little, Brown.
ISBN
978-0316763806
.
- ^
"Foundation History"
. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2016.
- ^
"Waksman Foundation for Microbiology homepage"
. Archived from
the original
on January 11, 2016.
- ^
Andrew Jack (April 14, 2012).
"Germ warfare"
.
Financial Times
.
- ^
a
b
c
"The Forgotten Women of the Antibiotics Race"
.
Lady Science
. 22 July 2021
. Retrieved
2021-12-21
.
- ^
"Obiturary: Elizabeth Gregory / Did McCandless woman get a fair shake for the role in the discovery of streptomycin?"
.
old.post-gazette.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2021-11-29
. Retrieved
2021-12-21
.
- ^
"The Schatz v. Waksman Lawsuit ? 1950"
. scc.rutgers.edu. Archived from
the original
on October 14, 2008.
- ^
a
b
Milton., Wainwright (1991).
Streptomycin : discovery and resultant controversy
. [Verlag nicht ermittelbar].
OCLC
1101806541
.
- ^
a
b
c
Pringle, Peter (June 11, 2012).
"Notebooks Shed Light on a Discovery, and a Mentor's Betrayal"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
June 11,
2012
.
- ^
Mistiaen, Veronique (November 2, 2002).
"Time, and the great healer"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
April 13,
2010
.
The story of streptomycin ? of scientific triumphs, all-too-human scientists and a long quest for justice ? lies somewhere between these two men.
- ^
TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (1950-12-30).
"Dr. Schatz Wins 3% of Royalty; Named Co-Finder of Streptomycin; KEY FIGURES IN STREPTOMYCIN DISCOVERY SUIT"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2022-10-03
.
- ^
The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2005-11-01).
"The Nobel cause"
.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases
.
5
(11): 665.
doi
:
10.1016/S1473-3099(05)70245-0
.
ISSN
1473-3099
.
PMID
16253880
.
- ^
Waksman, S. A.; Lechevalier, H. A. (1949-03-25).
"Neomycin, a New Antibiotic Active against Streptomycin-Resistant Bacteria, including Tuberculosis Organisms"
.
Science
.
109
(2830): 305?307.
Bibcode
:
1949Sci...109..305W
.
doi
:
10.1126/science.109.2830.305
.
ISSN
0036-8075
.
PMID
17782716
.
- ^
Waksman, S. A.; Carey, C. L.; Allen, M. C. (1934).
"Bacteria Decomposing Alginic Acid"
.
Journal of Bacteriology
.
28
(2): 213?220.
doi
:
10.1128/jb.28.2.213-220.1934
.
ISSN
0021-9193
.
PMC
533668
.
PMID
16559742
.
- ^
Waksman, S. A.; Carey, C. (1926).
"The Use of the Silica Gel Plate for Demonstrating the Occurrence and Abundance of Cellulose-Decomposing Bacteria"
.
Journal of Bacteriology
.
12
(2): 87?95.
doi
:
10.1128/jb.12.2.87-95.1926
.
ISSN
0021-9193
.
PMC
374888
.
PMID
16559206
.
- ^
Waksman, Selman A.; Carey, Cornelia L.; Reuszer, Herbert W. (1933-08-01).
"Marine bacteria and their role in the cycle of life in the sea: i. decomposition of marine plant and animal residues by bacteria"
.
The Biological Bulletin
.
65
(1): 57?79.
doi
:
10.2307/1537188
.
ISSN
0006-3185
.
JSTOR
1537188
.
- ^
Waksman, S. A.; Carey, C. L. (1935).
"Decomposition of Organic Matter in Sea Water by Bacteria: II. Influence of Addition of Organic Substances upon Bacterial Activities"
.
Journal of Bacteriology
.
29
(5): 545?561.
doi
:
10.1128/jb.29.5.545-561.1935
.
ISSN
0021-9193
.
PMC
543620
.
PMID
16559809
.
- ^
Waksman, S. A.; Hotchkiss, M. (1937).
"Viability of Bacteria in Sea Water"
.
Journal of Bacteriology
.
33
(4): 389?400.
doi
:
10.1128/jb.33.4.389-400.1937
.
ISSN
0021-9193
.
PMC
545103
.
PMID
16560007
.
- ^
Waksman, Selman A.; Johnston, Donald B.; Carey, Cornelia A. (1943).
"The effect of copper upon the development of bacteria in seawater and the isolation of specific bacteria"
(PDF)
.
Journal of Marine Research
.
5
(2?06): 136?152.
- ^
Waksman, S. A.; Hotchkiss, M.; Carey, C. L.; Hardman, Y. (1938).
"Decomposition of Nitrogenous Substances in Sea Water by Bacteria"
.
Journal of Bacteriology
.
35
(5): 477?486.
doi
:
10.1128/jb.35.5.477-486.1938
.
ISSN
0021-9193
.
PMC
545432
.
PMID
16560120
.
- ^
Waksman, Selman A.; Hotchkiss, Margaret; Carey, Cornelia L. (1933-10-01).
"Marine bacteria and their role in the cycle of life in the sea: ii. bacteria concerned in the cycle of nitrogen in the sea"
.
The Biological Bulletin
.
65
(2): 137?167.
doi
:
10.2307/1537170
.
ISSN
0006-3185
.
JSTOR
1537170
.
- ^
Waksman, Selman A.; Reuszer, H. W.; Carey, Cornelia L.; Hotchkiss, Margaret; Renn, C. E. (1933-04-01).
"Studies on the biology and chemistry of the Gulf of Maine : iii. bacteriological investigations of the seawater and marine bottoms"
.
The Biological Bulletin
.
64
(2): 183?205.
doi
:
10.2307/1537228
.
ISSN
0006-3185
.
JSTOR
1537228
.
- ^
"Dr. Selman Waksman"
. The Waksman Institute at Rutgers (No further authorship information available). Archived from
the original
on April 18, 2008
. Retrieved
January 17,
2008
.
- ^
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1952"
.
www.nobelprize.org
. Retrieved
April 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Nobelprize.org"
.
www.nobelprize.org
. Retrieved
April 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Selman A Walksman Award"
. Archived from
the original
on April 20, 2012
. Retrieved
July 29,
2012
.
- ^
The modern Hebrew epitaph is similar to the 17th century
King James translation
, "... let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation..."
External links
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