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QUESTION: The 1952 in or went to for the discovery of the . Who was left out of that prize?

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Selman Waksman Anywhere Search

Finding the Answer is Quick and Easy Enter Selman Waksman into the Quick Search box from the C&EN Archives homepage (pubs.acs.org/cen-archives). You’ll get 21 hits providing the information you need to answer your question.

First, you can learn about Selman Waksman and his contributions to chemistry. C&EN published a profile of him in 1949… “…while many educators were still teaching that the soil contained ‘good’ and ‘bad’ elements, a young graduate student at Rutgers College was making the acquaintance of small filamentous of the soil which were neither fungi nor bacteria but were called actinomycetes. It was the beginning of a lifetime of study that was to bring fame to the young man as one of the world’s foremost microbiologists and the discoverer of several , most important of which is streptomycin.”1

A 1946 review published by Selman Waksman, The Microbe—Friend and Enemy of Man, provides more insight into his philosophy and approach to research… “Only within recent years have we learned to recognize the many-sided nature and activities of microbes, the importance of the numerous processes and reactions that they bring about, and to take advantage of this newly acquired knowledge for preserving our health against infections and epidemics, for combating disease, and for raising our general standard of living.”2

Production of Streptomycin, published in 1946, underscores the impact of the discovery of streptomycin… “Streptomycin, a new antibiotic effective against certain diseases not controlled by , is now being produced on a large scale. Discovered in 1944, streptomycin has become a commercial reality as the result of rapid and extensive process development accelerated by repeated confirmation of medical efficiency.”3

The article also notes that streptomycin… “…was first obtained as a crude concentrate in 1944 by Selman A. Waksman and Albert Schatz at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, . The concentrate isolated by Dr. Waksman showed sufficient therapeutic value to stimulate considerable effort by Merck & Co., Inc….”3 Discover It All from the ACS Web Editions Platform! Read the Knowing that streptomycin was jointly discovered by Selman Waksman and Articles! Albert Schatz, you may be surprised to read this 1952 C&EN announcement… “Selman A. Waksman…codiscoverer of 1. Selman A. Waksman the antibiotic streptomycin, has been Chem. Eng. News, 1949, named winner of the 1952 Nobel Prize 27 (30), p 2146 in Medicine. The drug was first isolated DOI: 10.1021/cen- in 1945. The prize will amount to v027n030.p2146 $33,037 in cash….In 1949 he assigned his patents on streptomycin and eight other drugs to Rutgers, where their royalties have founded the $1 million 2. The Microbe—Friend institute of which he is director.”4 and Enemy of Man Chem. Eng. News, 1946, 24 (10), pp 1372–1374 Why wasn’t Dr. Schatz awarded part of the DOI: 10.1021/cen- Nobel Prize? A 1951 C&EN article explains the rift and subsequent lawsuit between v024n010.p1372 Dr. Schatz and Dr. Waksman…

“Public recognition of his part in the discovery of streptomycin and a share in the 3. Production of royalties brought settlement of the suit filed by Albert Schatz, now at Brooklyn College, against Selman A. Waksman…Under the terms of the settlement, Streptomycin Dr. Schatz agreed to retract his charges that Dr. Waksman had used ‘fraud Chem. Eng. News, 1946, and duress’ to induce him to assign his patent rights on streptomycin to the 24 (20), pp 2762–2764 foundation….Dr. Schatz, whose name appears with Dr. Waksman’s on the original DOI: 10.1021/cen- patent application filed in 1945 will receive 3% of the royalties…”5 v024n020.p2762

Conclusions 4. NEWS-MAKERS The 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognized Dr. Selman Chem. Eng. News, 1952, Waksman for his discovery of streptomycin. He did not, however, discover streptomycin alone: Albert Schatz deserved part of the credit, 30 (44), pp 4656–4659 but was not recognized by the Nobel Committee. As with many DOI: 10.1021/cen- disputes, we may never know exactly what happened and why, but we v030n044.p4656 do know that Dr. Waksman and Schatz together and individually helped advance modern medicine, saving countless lives.

5. RESEARCH Chem. Eng. News, 1951, Dr. Waksman, a pioneer in and antibiotics research, had a good 29 (3), pp 205–207 sense of humor. In 1940, he contributed an anecdote to C&EN. Visit the DOI: 10.1021/cen- C&EN Archives to read it in full: EMANATIONS, Chem. Eng. News, 1940, 18 (4), pp 172–173. v029n003.p205

pubs.acs.org/cen-archives