Experiment Eleven: Dark Secrets Behind the Discovery of a Wonder Drug

by Peter Pringle

In 1943, Albert Schatz, a young Rutgers College Ph.D. student, worked on a wartime project in microbiology professor Selman Waksman's lab, searching for an antibiotic to fight infections on the front lines and at home. In his eleventh experiment on a common bacterium found in farmyard soil, Schatz discovered streptomycin, the first effective cure for tuberculosis, one of the world's deadliest diseases. However, Waksman took credit for the discovery and secretly enriched himself with royalties from the streptomycin patent. In an unprecedented lawsuit, young Schatz sued Waksman, and was awarded the title of "co-discoverer" and a share of the royalties. But two years later, Professor Waksman alone was awarded the Nobel Prize. Schatz disappeared into academic obscurity.

For the first time, acclaimed author and journalist Peter Pringle unravels the intrigues behind one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine. The streptomycin patent was a breakthrough for the drug companies, overturning patent limits on products of nature and paving the way for today's biotech world. As dozens more antibiotics were found, many from the same family as streptomycin, the drug companies created oligopolies and reaped big profits. Pringle uses firsthand accounts and archives in the United States and Europe to reveal the intensely human story behind the discovery that started a revolution in the treatment of infectious diseases and shaped the future of Big Pharma.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Medicine, Medical, Biography Memoir, Ebooks

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Peter Pringle is a veteran British foreign correspondent. He is theauthor and coauthor of several nonfiction books, including th ebestselling Those Are Real Bullets, Aren't They? He lives in New York City.

Series:
* Arthur Hemmings Mystery

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially picked this up because of the subtitle, which specifically mentions the discovery of a cure for tuberculosis. In fact, for the most part it isn’t about the science, but more about the intellectual property battle that surrounded the discovery of streptomycin. It’s more about the two main scientists it discusses, and their struggle over who really found streptomycin. The way the book tells it, I think it’s clear that Waksman was wrong to claim all the credit, and knew he was; Schatz should have received much more credit and recognition for what he did.

It’s interesting in the sense of illuminating what goes on to get drugs from the lab bench to actual development, where Waksman really did play a key role. It might be a bit wearing if you’re not that interested in what’s essentially a biography of the two scientists, though.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides the reader with the accounts that lead to the discovery of streptomycin and the events that occur afterwards. If you are someone who enjoys reading about the development of things that have a heavy influence in science and in our daily lives than this is a great story. If you are someone who wants the more technical aspect of scientific discoveries, you probably will be disappointed as this book weighs heavily on the unfair battle between a professor and his graduate student on the basis of who discovered streptomycin and who was just a mere human with hands.

This story was devastating and it continues to be. Even in this day and age with information right at our fingertips, websites have incorrectly credited Waksman as the sole discoverer of streptomycin. The heartbreaking fact of this untold story is the sorrow that Albert Schatz had to have endured as he struggled to keep the records straight and also understand his mentor's deception. Waksman may have done many things in favor of science by donating the thousands he received from the royalties of streptomycin, but he did the most unforgivable thing as human being and that is to strategically take the credit for the work he knew he did not do all the while publicly degrading the individual who did. Of all the publications Waksman has had in his lifetime, how could he have written and edited all of that and still find time to run experiments? The simple answer is that he didn't. He facilitated the work of his graduate students and Albert Schatz was the unlucky chap whose research spawned the cure to TB making it the golden ticket to Waksman's ideas of obtaining grandeur.


Narrator: Daniel Goldstein
Performance: 2 out of 5
Goldstein narrated as if he didn't know he was suppose to do a reading. I remember thinking that maybe he didn't get the script to practice or something. His pace and the inflection in his words were inconsistent and sometimes distracting. I switched from 1.25x speed to 1 speed thinking that would make a difference and it didn't. Luckily this book is written in the third person with a few quotes so there isn't the need to follow a dialogue.

[Mer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the author has chosen a side, I thought he presented why people did what they did rather well. And the story put some perspective on the injection I received as a child; too young to understand science and the leaps in knowledge the world was going thru at that time.

[JDK1962 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of a battle over scientific credit. Unlike the clash between Newton and Leibniz over discovery of the calculus, in which Newton attempted to deny the independent work of Leibniz, this event took place between a professor and one of his graduate students.

The opponents were mismatched, and the outcome wasn't pretty, as those who read the book will discover. From the well-documented account presented here, one would certainly wish that Waksman had behaved in a more open and generous manner: certainly there was credit and glory enough to share, especially given that the discovery took place as a key event in Waksman's long and distinguished career; for Schatz, though, it turned out to be the pinnacle of an undistinguished career.

The book is perhaps weak in providing enough context for the work in soil microbiology, but to be fair, that isn't where the story lies. It is at its peak in taking the reader through the twists and turns of the relationship between the two men.

It's a readable account, and thought-provoking: it's not at all clear-cut exactly how credit should be allocated in an academic research lab, except to say that what happened clearly wasn't the proper way. Waksman used the discovery to dramatically advance his own career, while Schatz seems to have lived his life as the victim of the injustice done to him.

[Koduvayur Harikrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an eye-opener, especially for the medical profession. The Hippocratic Oath that all doctors take at the time of graduation forbids those in the profession to ever misuse their status. Yet, the history of medicine is full of outstanding examples of greed. None more ugly than that of Selman Waksman, as per this book. Waksman systematically, and unscrupulously, deprived Albert Schatz, a junior doctor working under him, of all credit for the discovery in 1943 of Streptomycin, a wonder drug at that time for the cure of world's greatest scourge - Tuberculosis. It would be fair to say Streptomycin was the first super drug in the fight against infections - although Penicillin had been discovered earlier, its production was fraught with many issues remaining financially nonviable for a long time. But this book is not about any comparisons. It lays bare the dark underbelly of medical research - and we see examples of powerful people usurping their juniors' work to this day. Albert Schatz never got any true credit for his discovery of Streptomycin, leave alone benefit from it financially. He was given a pittance in an out of court settlement, but that was not all. Rutgers University, which grabbed most of the fame and money (along with Merck) from this discovery, humiliated Schatz by "honouring" him with a lifetime award some 50 years down the line - an award named after his nemesis Waksman. But then, they were not the only ones. That epitome of acknowledging greatness, The Caroline Medical Institute, awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Streptomycin exclusively to Waksman in 1953. So much for the committee's groundwork in assessing the qualifications for awarding what is touted as the world's greatest professional award. But for Milton Wainwright of Sheffield University, Schatz would not have got any recognition even belatedly. Peter Pringle acknowledges Milton's contributions. This book left me feeling sick at the end of it all. But it tells the truth as has never been told before, and needs to be read by everyone who cares about justice in any human endeavour.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book discusses the early history of antibiotic discovery, focusing on streptomycin and also the era of commercialization of discoveries. The controversy behind the discovery is also presented, with graduate student Albert Schatz who found the strain that produced the antibiotic, and the director of the lab, Selman Waksman, who ended up with the Nobel prize for the discovery. While the book plays up the controversy of credit, the reality is that students and employees in a lab rarely get the credit/fame for discoveries beyond authorship on publications and in some cases, being named in a patent. So for me, this part was less surprising, although there were some more egregious actions over the course of this discovery. The patent and royalties for universities were in their early stages and it does appear that Waksman was able to craft a deal for himself that would be unlikely to happen in current times. Overall, it was an interesting book.

[David Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a well-told account of one of the darker sides of scientific discovery by detailing the specifics behind the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin. The story was changed over years and decades by one of the co-discoverers in what was for a long time a successful attempt to make the discovery his own. This ultimately ended in only one of the discoverers being awarded the Nobel Prize for the work, while the other was largely blacklisted from positions he likely would have had access to in the scientific world.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, but extremely biased in a way that made me doubt a lot of the details. Also, sadly, any book that starts with the main researcher's intelligent forehead brushed by gusts of wind...is going to put me off. A more in depth analysis of academic hubris and corruption would have made me enjoy the story more.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Enlightening what our government lets get through the tracks and highlights how it's not a person's knowledge that gets them far, but their connections.

[Elizabeth☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

albert schatz is a graduate student working under his mentor, waksman, when schatz discovers an antibiotic. this is an important once: it works against tuberculosis. schatz and waksman are deemed co-discoverers on the official patent and subsequent papers. schatz writes the whole experiment up for this doctoral thesis, which waksman approves.

but waksman then goes on to garner not only royalties, he receives the nobel prize for his "work" on discovering streptomycin. waksman never gives schatz credit for his part in the discovery and waksman uses all of his power as scientist and professor to ensure schatz never receives his due credit.

this is truly an amazing read. it offers insight to the world of academia and research at a time in history when the search for antibiotics was crucial and when drug companies were beginning to see the wonder of profits to be gained for funding research and securing patents.

this is also a eye-opening read on the ethics of science. it seems most scientists stand behind the lead person and frown on attempting to claim credit or money when all of the research is for the good of humanity.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The wife bought this book from her company's book fair. I don't blame whoever left the book there.

Experiment Eleven is about the discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic that could cure tuberculosis. There isn't much excitement in its discovery; it was literally found at random secreted by soil microbes. The dark secret isn't much exciting: Dr. Waksman, the head of the department, deliberately grabbed the spotlight and downplayed the work of the true discoverer, Dr. Schatz. I feel like the author wanted me to rally behind the wronged underdog, but instead, I went through the book wondering why I should care about something this mundane for this long.

This was enough material for what seems like a good feature article, not a 200+ page book. There's a couple sections here and there that seemed interesting (streptomycin was patented, unlike penicillin, which lead to windfall profits and birthed the beginning of the modern pharmaceutical industry), but this book was a chore to read.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful expose of the fraud and dishonesty in the competition claiming credit for a discovery. Pringle recounts the discovery of streptomycin in 1943 by Albert Schatz working in Selman Waksman's lab at Rutgers. This antibiotic became the treatment for TB which, until then, had no effective medication. The injustices that followed this discovery need to be read by everyone. Schatz deserved credit, some royalties and a share in the Nobel prize but what actually happened shows the influence a professor has over a graduate student and the consequences if the latter doesn't obey. Thanks to the work of Milton Wainwright in 1987the truth started to emerge.
It isn't often a science book causes me to weep but as this book ended I did.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazon review:
In 1943, Albert Schatz, a young Rutgers College Ph.D. student, worked on a wartime project in microbiology professor Selman Waksman’s lab, searching for an antibiotic to fight infections on the front lines and at home. In his eleventh experiment on a common bacterium found in farmyard soil, Schatz discovered streptomycin, the first effective cure for tuberculosis, one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but it focused far more on the interpersonal drama between the two co-discoverers and left a lot of the interesting science bits glossed over or not mentioned at all. Matter of personal preference but I would've preferred more of the latter with perhaps less of the detail on the former.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read regarding the controversy over who truly should get credit for the discovery of streptomycin. A sad reminder that grad students often times get walked on and fail to receive credit that they deserve. I wish it would have talked more about the actual experimentation and steps taken to find the antibiotic.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I'd paid more attention to the first section but I found it slow going and almost didn't continue. I did persevere, however, and I'm glad I did because it did turn into a much more readable and interesting story but I couldn't remember all the detail from the first bit that would have helped me understand later.

[Piyush Modak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the start of the anti-biotic revolution in America and then the world. This is the classic case of the professor taking credit for their students work. Has happened very regularly in the past but still prevails in the future. This marks the start of universities hogging all the IP developed n their property.

[Elizabeth]

As seen in Nature .

(Although they give the subtitle as "Deceit and Betrayal in the Discovery of the Cure for Tuberculosis", which I thought sounded more exciting.)

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, on the front page. Absolutely. P. 231 "the cruel law of scientific life ...is that...credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs....unfortunate that salesmanship plays so great a role ..." But it is about more than credit, in my view.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, well written book about the discovery of streptomycin and how the discoverer was cheated out of his place in history (and some of the financial rewards) by a Rutgers department head.

[gargravarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these kind of books - it's interesting finding out how something so iconic or important came about. If you are too, you'll probably like this.

[Rivqa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quality investigative journalism (rarer than hen's teeth) meets history and philosophy of science. This is a gripping read about an all-too-common problem of science. Highly recommended.

[Nuno Martinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a great historic piece on antibiotics history and drug development in general.

[Mills College Library]

615.32937 P9577 2013

[Keerthi Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's surprising how a very scientific book can be this gripping even to someone who only has very basic knowledge in science

[Farah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply compelling :)