October 19, 1943: Streptomycin Is Isolated

Schatz and Waksman

October 19, 1943: Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Rutgers has had a lot of victories in the laboratory. On athletic fields, uh, let me get back to you. 

This antibiotic, which gained fame as a treatment for tuberculosis, may be RU's greatest contribution to the world, far more so than "American football." It was isolated by Albert Schatz, a graduate student, in the laboratory of Selman Waksman, in a research product funded by Merck and Company.

Waksman and his staff discovered several other antibiotics, including neomycin. In 1952, Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Schatz, who had to sue Waksman in order to get his proper credit, tends to get forgotten. Waksman lived until 1973, Schatz until 2005.

*

October 19, 1943 was a Tuesday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season didn't start for another 11 days. So there were no scores on this historic day.