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Who Really Discovered Streptomycin: A Hidden Figure in the Discovery of a Major Antibiotic

Image 1. Elizabeth Bugie Gregory


Written by Elena Lynott ‘27

Edited by Josue Navarro ‘25


After Alexander Fleming’s discovery of the antibiotic penicillin in 1928, the discovery of antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial diseases took off. One such antibiotic identified in 1943 was streptomycin, an absolute killer.


Streptomycin was first used to treat tuberculosis, and to this day is still used to treat infectious diseases including pneumonia, E. coli infections, and influenza (1). The discovery of Streptomycin changed the game of antibiotic therapeutics, and it is clear that its legacy lives on. If you were to make a quick online search on the discovery of streptomycin, you would find a plethora of pages articulating and crediting the brilliance of Selman Waksman and his student Albert Schatz. However, you will have to dig deeper to find the name Elizabeth Bugie, and much further still to find any details on who this woman is and what she did.


Why is a random name from the twentieth century miscellaneously dropped into few articles explaining the discovery of streptomycin? Despite Waksman and Schatz claims to fame over streptomycin’s discovery, which included a Nobel prize from Waksman and vast acknowledgements for the both of them, Elizabeth Bugie was also a crucial member of the streptomycin discovery team. But yet, Bugie did not, and has not received nearly the credit for this scientific revelation which Waksman and Schatz have been praised for.


Along with Schatz, Bugie was a student in Waksman’s laboratory at Rutgers University (2). Together, Schatz and Bugie cultured organisms in order to identify streptomycin. The key word there being together. Specifically, Bugie isolated the soil dwelling bacterium Streptomyces griseus, which was found to produce the streptomycin antibiotic (3). Once isolated, Waksman, Schatz, and Bugie worked together to corroborate their findings and had their antibiotic discovery published in the Proceedings of the Society for Experimental and Biological Medicine (2). To reiterate, Budgie was both a laboratory researcher at Rutgers University who researched streptomycin, and she was an author of the streptomycin publication. Certainly, Bugie made substantial and successful contributions to streptomycin’s discovery.


In the realm of scientific invention, results from an experiment can be published for scientific and/or public usage. But to actually lay claims to your findings and actually have the rights to your discovery or invention, the invention must be patented. Thus, patenting is like owning intellectual property so that an individual can stake an invention as their own and only their own, fully accrediting specific, patented individuals to their invention. After publication, Waksman and Schatz went on to have their streptomycin discovery patented, and Bugie’s name miraculously disappeared from the patent (4). Erased from the public eye, erased from the discovery, Elizabeth Bugie missed out on her chance to rise as a profound scientist while her male colleagues soared.


Selman Waksman even tried to take full claim of streptomycin’s discovery, attempting to ice out Albert Schatz which created another controversy of its own (5). But still, Schatz remained a recognized streptomycin discoverer while Bugie was left virtually invisible. Recently, Rutgers University celebrated the 75th anniversary of the discovery of streptomycin and released a short article to the Waksman Institute of Microbiology webpage stating that streptomycin was discovered by Waksman, Schatz, and Bugie (6). Despite this, Rutgers University has not updated its department articles for the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences to explicitly reflect Bugie’s pivotal role in the discovery of streptomycin (7). More recognition is now being given to Bugie, but there’s still a long way to go before Bugie’s contributions are praised anywhere near that of Schatz and Waksman.


Along with other groundbreaking female scientists like Rosalind Franklin: a key player in proving the structure of DNA, and Mary Jackson: the first black female engineer at NASA, Elizabeth Bugie is one of many women who remain in anonymity despite their groundbreaking scientific discoveries. Bugie’s history and significance is beginning to be taught and recognized more, but this does not make up for the fact that at the time of her discovery, Bugie was cast aside as an important figure in science. It is important that credit is given where credit is due, and much more credit is due to Elizabeth Bugie, so let us respect and bring light to her remarkable accomplishments for the world of science.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References 

1. Multum C. Streptomycin Uses, Side Effects & Warnings [Internet]. Drugs.com. 2021. Available from: https://www.drugs.com/mtm/streptomycin.html

2. Angelova L. Elizabeth Bugie – the invisible woman in the discovery of streptomycin [Internet]. Scientista | Women in STEM. 2019. Available from: http://www.scientistafoundation.com/discovher-science/elizabeth-bugie-the-invisible-woman-in-the-discovery-of-streptomycin

3. Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Discovery of Streptomycin | Waksman Institute of Microbiology [Internet]. www.waksman.rutgers.edu. Available from: https://www.waksman.rutgers.edu/news/2019/oct/25/celebrating-75th-anniversary-discovery-streptomycin

4. Waksman S, Brunswick N. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,449,866 STREPTOMYCIN AND PROCESS OF PREPARATION [Internet]. 1948 p. 866. Available from: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ba/26/7c/93a3207b6374ea/US2449866.pdf

5. Selman Waksman and Antibiotics - Landmark [Internet]. American Chemical Society. Available from: https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/selmanwaksman.html

6. Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Discovery of Streptomycin | Waksman Institute of Microbiology [Internet]. www.waksman.rutgers.edu. Available from: https://www.waksman.rutgers.edu/news/2019/oct/25/celebrating-75th-anniversary-discovery-streptomycin

7. Streptomycin and the Legacy of Dr. Selman Waksman | School of Environmental and Biological Sciences [Internet]. Rutgers.edu. 2024. Available from: https://sebs.rutgers.edu/waksman-museum/streptomycin

[Image Citation] Stadler MM. Elizabeth Bugie Gregory, bioquímica [Internet]. Mujeres con ciencia. 2019. Available from: https://mujeresconciencia.com/2019/10/05/elizabeth-bugie-gregory-bioquimica/

 

 

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