Waksman

A Russian-born American microbiologist. Born into a Jewish family, he graduated from high school in Odessa before moving to the United States in 1910 and enrolling at Rutgers University. After graduating in 1915, he majored in soil bacteriology at the university's graduate school, then transferred to the University of California, where he earned his doctorate in 1918. He returned to Rutgers, becoming an associate professor in 1925 and a professor in 1930, and serving as director of the university's Institute of Microbiology from 1949 to 1958. He began his research into the ecology of soil microorganisms, and in the late 1930s he turned his attention to the antibiotics they produce. He systematically explored actinomycetes, discovering numerous antibiotics including actinomycetes (1941) and streptomycin (1943). Streptomycin was effective against tuberculosis bacteria, and for this achievement he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1952. He also contributed to the promotion of microbial research, including the establishment of the aforementioned institute, with income from patent royalties. The term antibiotic was also coined by him (1941).

Source: Morikita Publishing "Chemical Dictionary (2nd Edition)" Information about the Chemical Dictionary 2nd Edition

ロシア生まれのアメリカの微生物学者．ユダヤ人家庭に生まれ，オデッサの高等学校を卒業後，1910年渡米し，ラトガース大学に入学．1915年卒業後，同大学院で土壌細菌学を専攻し，ついでカリフォルニア大学に移って，1918年学位を取得．ラトガース大学に戻って，1925年準教授，1930年教授となり，1949～1958年同大学に設立された微生物学研究所所長を務めた．土壌微生物の生態の研究から，1930年代末よりそれらが産生する抗生物質に研究を進め，放線菌類を組織的に探索してアクチノマイシン(1941年)，ストレプトマイシン(1943年)をはじめ，数多くの抗生物質を発見した．ストレプトマイシンは結核菌に有効で，この功績により，1952年ノーベル生理学医学賞を受賞．また，特許料収入により，上記研究所の設立をはじめ微生物研究の振興に寄与した．なお，抗生物質という用語もかれの命名による(1941年)．

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