Actinomycetes, Vol. 4, Part 2, 27-39, 1993 The true story of thedevelopment of streptomycin ALBERT SCHATZ Code Number: AC93005 FileSizes: Text: 44K Graphics: Photo (Jpg) - 138K / Halftone 106K Prologue"For the historian of science, few documents are as valuable as thedescription of a discovery by the scientists involved in the action.Unfortunately few scientists take the time to record for posterity thecourse of events which led to the discoveries which were the fruit oftheir labor" (Lechevalier, 1991). "I have often thought how much moreinteresting science would be if those who created it told how it reallyhappened, rather than reported it logically and impersonally, as theyoften do in scientific papers" (Beadle, 1992). "Over the years, thestory of streptomycin's discovery has been terribly garbled. I think... it would be a great service if ... Dr.Schatz told his own accurateand interesting account of his finding. Streptomycin turned out to be amilestone in the history of drugs to treat tuberculosis and otherinfections. Dr. Schatz's role has been largely ignored. The recordabout this discovery should be set straight" (Doris Jones Ralston, afellow graduate student when I did the streptomycin research).Copyright 1993 C.E.T.A.
