STREPTOMYCIN

antibiotic synthesized by the soil organism Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin was discovered by the American biochemists Selman A. Waksman, Albert Schatz, and Elizabeth Bugie in 1943. It was the first antimicrobial agent developed after penicillin and the first antibiotic effective in treating tuberculosis. Streptomycin acts by interfering with a microorganism's ability to synthesize certain vital proteins. In addition to the tuberculosis bacterium, organisms sensitive to this antibiotic include those that cause pneumonia, spinal meningitis, and typhoid fever. Because it was effective against a wide variety of diseases, streptomycin was used often, with the result that many initially sensitive microorganisms became resistant to the antibiotic.