Selman Abraham Waksman

Waksman, Selman Abraham (1888–1973), U.S. microbiologist. Waksman, an authority on soil microbiology, developed a controlled system to discover antibiotics among microbes, particularly actinomycetes. Antibiotic activity was tested on about 10,000 soil microbes, leading to the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin (1943), the first truly effective agent in the treatment of tuberculosis. Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1952.

See also: Microbiology.