Ryūzō Yanagimachi
Ryūzō Yanagimachi ( Japanese 柳 町 隆 造 , Yanagimachi Ryūzō ; born August 27, 1928 ) is a Japanese reproductive biologist . He is a pioneer in concomitant fertilization such as in vitro fertilization and direct sperm injection into the egg cell (generally also called Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection or ICSI), which are now used in clinics around the world. He was also a pioneer in the field of cloning. In 1997, his laboratory at the University of Hawaii successfully cloned mice using the Honolulu technique. The first was a female named cumulina, from the cells around the ovaries in mice.
Life
Ryūzō Yanagimachi received a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1952 and a doctorate in animal embryology from Hokkaidō University in 1960 . Then he taught at a high school for a year because he couldn't find a research position. Yanagimachi then applied for a postdoctoral position with Min Chueh Chang at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He got the job and discovered how to artificially fertilize hamster eggs. This work led to the artificial fertilization of the eggs of humans and other species of mammals. In 1964 he returned to Hokkaido University as a lecturer with the possibility of later getting a professorship. However, this was never given to him.
In 1966, Yanagimachi joined the University of Hawaii as an assistant professor and then became a full professor of anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, and reproductive biology at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. After serving 38 years at the University of Hawaii, he retired in late 2004, but continued to work with young people thereafter.
He is married to a former child psychologist. Due to the language barrier, she could not find a job in her field and eventually started working as an electron microscope operator in his laboratory.
Scientific work
Clone
In July 1998, Yanagimachi's laboratory published the cloning of mice from adult cells in the journal Nature. Yanagimachi called this new technique of cloning they had developed the "Honolulu Technique".
The first mouse was named cumulina, after the cumulus cells whose nuclei were used to clone them. As of publication, over 50 mice over 3 generations have been created by this technique.
This work was done by an international team of scientists called "Team Yanagimachi" or "Team Yana" for short. This team consisted of co-authors Teruhiko "Teru" Wakayama (also a native of Japan), Anthony "Toni" Perry (Great Britain), Maurizio Zuccotti (Italy) and KR Johnson (USA).
After more than 30 years, the Yanagimachi Laboratory moved from its warehouse in a warehouse to the tower of the newly established Institute for Research and Biogenetics of the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Money and fame made it possible to publish the article in Nature.
The Yanagimachi Laboratory and its former staff continued to make advances in cloning. The first adult male animal was announced in 1999. In 2004, cells from an infertile mouse were cloned. This advance can be used to make many sterile animals available for use in research on human infertility.
Mice cloned using the Honolulu technique are on display at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.
Main work before and after 1960
Prior to studying mammalian fertilization in 1960, Yanagimachi studied fertilization in fish (herring) and the sexual arrangement of root cancers (parasitic barnacles). In fish he discovered calcium-dependent, chemotactic movements of sperm into the micropyle (entry point in the egg for the semen) through which the egg is fertilized by the semen. In the case of root cancers, he found that adults are not hermaphrodites, as is generally thought, but bisexual. A so-called “testis” in an adult animal is a receptacle of cells from male larvae. This discovery revolutionized biological studies of root cancers and related animals.
His main work since 1960 was the analysis of the process and mechanism of natural fertilization in mammals and the development of the accompanying technologies of fertilization.
During his time with the Worcester Foundation, he demonstrated and recorded the entire process of sperm penetration through the zona pellucida and fusion with the living egg (hamster), which was the first time in mammals.
Yanagimachi's comprehensive report on artificial insemination published in 1994 in "Physiology of Reproduction" (Knobil & Neill eds, Raven Press) is a classic. His group pioneered intracytoplasmic sperm injection, which has overcome male infertility. They were the first to produce normal (mouse) offspring with pre-sperm cells such as round spermatids and spermatocytes, as well as freeze-dried sperm.
He retired in 2005 but continues to work in the artificial insemination field and started working with fish and insects.
Prizes and awards
- Zoological Society Prize, Japan, 1977
- Research Award, Society of Study of Reproduction, USA, 1982
- University of Hawaii Regents Medal for Excellence in Research,
- Recognition Award, Serono Symposia USA, 1989
- Marshall Medal, Society for the Study of Fertility, UK, 1994
- International Prize of Biology , Japan, 1996
- Honorable Degree of Philosophy from the University of Rome,
- Distinguished Andrologist Award, American Society of Andrology, USA, 1998
- Induction to the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland, 1998
- Carl. G. Hartmann Award, Society for the Study of Reproduction, USA, 1999
- Honorable Degree of Philosophy from the University of Pavia,
- Honorary Member, European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, 1999
- Pioneer Award, International Embryo Transfer Society, 2000
- Induction to the National Academy of Sciences , USA, 2001
- Honorable Degree of Philosophy from the Hokkaido University,
- Induction to Hall of Honor, The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, USA, 2003
- Donald Henry Barron Lecture, University of Florida, 2003
- Pioneer Award in Reproduction Research, 2012
Web links
- partners.nytimes.com. Cloning Pioneer Is Focused and Creative in His Research , accessed August 27, 2014
- manoa.hawaii.edu .: Congratulations offered as Nobel Prize for in-vitro fertilization awarded , accessed on August 27, 2014
Individual evidence
- ^ Pioneer in Reproduction Research award bestowed on 'Yana'. Retrieved August 27, 2014 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Yanagimachi, Ryūzō |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 柳 町 隆 造 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese reproductive biologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 27, 1928 |