P153: Movers and Shakers - a Rutgers's Perspective

The classical concept of Unity in Biochemistry arose through the Kluyver Delft School in the 1930s. The proof of concept required the use of uniform microbial cultures and hence the essential role of submerged culture came to the fore. Cultures were grown in flasks set on either reciprocating or rotary bases on relatively crude apparatii, for instance with support on flexible bamboo rods. In the 1940s, the importance of aeration through shaking was dramatically emphasized in the fermentative production of antibiotics. Still culture in bedpans of Penicillium was unproductive. Selman Waksman, Rutgers Agricultural School, in his antibiotic odyssey commented on the need for reliable shakers to David and Sigmund Freedman who ran a small machine shop, New Brunswick Tool and Die Company. Subsequently David Freedman repaired a Rutgers reciprocal shaker and commented that he could build a more reliable apparatus. Thus he designed, built and patented a rotary shaker which became the fountain of the highly successful New Brunswick Scientific Company (recently acquired by Eppendorf AG, Hamburg, Germany). The recent death of David Freedman brings focus to a simplistic yet crucial apparatus that today is used routinely in microbiology laboratories. The Freedmans’ story is clearly a legendary success of the American dream. Illustrations to show the development of the shaker from 1908 will be presented.