ABSTRACT
WAKSMAN, Selman Abraham 1888-1973. US microbiologist and Nobel laureate, 1952. Waksman was taken as a child from Russia to the United States. In 1939 he discovered a bacteria-killing agent in a micro-organism found in soil. He coined the term ‘antibiotic’ (against life) for such chemicals. In 1943 he isolated an antibiotic, streptomycin, which unlike penicillin was effective against ‘gram-negative’ bacteria. His work was of great importance in the treatment of war wounded. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1952, and elected a member of the US National Academy of Science.
