Albert Schatz, a PhD student, first isolated streptomycin on 19 October 1943 in the Rutgers University laboratory of his supervisor, Selman Waksman, in research funded by Merck and Co. Streptomycin became the first antibiotic cure for tuberculosis and remains on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Waksman alone received the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of streptomycin, and was later accused of playing down Schatz's role in work Schatz had done under Waksman's supervision; Schatz sued Waksman and the Rutgers Research and Endowment Foundation and won legal recognition as co-discoverer, with a settlement awarding Waksman 10 percent of royalties, Schatz 3 percent plus compensation for missed royalties, and the remaining laboratory staff, including Elizabeth Bugie, second author on the original paper but absent from the patent, sharing 7 percent.
Facts
Disputed
DiscovererOfficially credited to Selman Waksman; Albert Schatz, the graduate student who performed the isolation, later won legal recognition as co-discoverer. 1 Waksman received sole Nobel credit in 1952; a 1950 lawsuit established Schatz as legal co-discoverer with a share of royalties. See the linked dissent on this fact. Discovery Year Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Karolinska awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of streptomycin.
Discovered By
Performed the isolation as Waksman's graduate student; won legal recognition as co-discoverer in 1950. See the linked dissent.
Sources
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Discoverer
Selman Waksman received sole credit for the discovery of streptomycin, including the entire 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, but Albert Schatz, the graduate student who performed the actual isolation on 19 October 1943 under Waksman's supervision, was second author on the founding paper and was accused of being deliberately written out of later credit. Schatz sued Waksman and the Rutgers Research and Endowment Foundation and won a 1950 settlement recognizing him as legal co-discoverer, with 3 percent of royalties plus compensation for royalties already paid to Waksman alone; Elizabeth Bugie, second author on the original publication, received only 0.2 percent and was left off the patent entirely. Whether Waksman's historical standing as sole discoverer, still the version many textbooks repeat, fairly reflects the documented laboratory and legal record is genuinely contested.
A dissenting reading, from Albert SchatzWikipedia: Streptomycin, Wikipedia
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