was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. He developed methods to guide human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into forming brain cortex, eyes (optic cups), and other organs in tissue culture. Sasai worked at the

Riken is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...

Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Kobe, and was Director of the Laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis. Following his involvement in the 2014 STAP cell controversy, Sasai was found dead at Riken from an apparent suicide.

Early life and education

Yoshiki Sasai was born in 1962 in Hyogo, Japan. He received his medical degree from

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

's School of Medicine in 1986. In 1993 Sasai was awarded a PhD from the Kyoto University School of Medicine, and served a residency at Kobe Municipal General Hospital.

Career

Sasai worked as a research fellow at

Edward M. De Robertis Edward Michael De Robertis (born June 6, 1947) is an American embryologist and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. His work has contributed to the finding of conserved molecular processes of embryonic inductions that result in ...

's laboratory at

UCLA School of Medicine The UCLA School of Medicine (also known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA) is the accredited medical school of the University of California, Los Angeles. Founded in 1951, it is the second medical school in the University of Califor ...

until 1996. Sasai became an associate professor at Kyoto University in 1996, and a full professor in 1998. In 2003 he moved to the

RIKEN is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...

Center for Developmental Biology as Director of the organogenesis and neurogenesis group. Sasai was known for developing methods to grow

s into organ-like structures. In 2012, Sasai became the first

researcher to grow an optic cup from human cells.

STAP controversy

In 2014 Sasai was a co-author on two papers published in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', shortly thereafter retracted, that described stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency or "STAP" cells. A subsequent investigation by Riken found that Sasai's co-author, Haruko Obokata, had committed scientific misconduct in the STAP cell experiments, and criticized Sasai for inadequate supervision of Obokata. In response to the Riken investigation, Sasai described himself as "overwhelmed with shame", and following a month of hospitalization was found dead from an apparent suicide by hanging on August 5, 2014.

Awards and honours

* 1998 Human Frontier Science Program 10th Anniversary Award * 2006 Bälz Preis * 2009 MECSST Award for Science and Technology * 2010

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Science Prize for his work on

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

recapitulation of brain development * 2011 Nakaakira Tsukahara Memorial Award * 2012 Sayer Vision Research Lecture Award from

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

* 2012

Inoue Inoue (kanji: , historical kana orthography: ''Winouhe'') is the 16th most common Japanese surname. Historically, it was also romanized as Inouye, and many Japanese-descended people outside of Japan still retain this spelling. A less common varia ...

Prize for Science. * 2012

Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize is an award given annually by the Foundation for Promotion of Material Science and Technology of Japan (MST) to people who have achieved outstanding, creative results, with practical effect, by publishing theses, acquiring pa ...

* 2012 Takeda Award * 2013 Hans Sigrist Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasai, Yoshiki 1962 births 2014 suicides 2014 deaths 20th-century Japanese biologists Stem cell researchers Suicides by hanging in Japan People from Hyōgo Prefecture Scientists from Hyōgo Prefecture Kyoto University alumni Academic staff of Kyoto University Riken personnel 21st-century Japanese biologists

Early life and education

Career

STAP controversy

Awards and honours

See also

References