is a Japanese

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

known for research on

cell cycle The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell that cause it to divide into two daughter cells. These events include the duplication of its DNA ( DNA replication) and some of its organelles, and sub ...

and chromosome structure using the fission yeast

Schizosaccharomyces pombe ''Schizosaccharomyces pombe'', also called "fission yeast", is a species of yeast used in traditional brewing and as a model organism in molecular and cell biology. It is a unicellular eukaryote, whose cells are rod-shaped. Cells typically measur ...

. He was elected as a foreign member of

the Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

on 11 May 2000.

Education and early life

Yanagida was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, and received his doctorate in science from the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in 1970.

Career and research

He was Professor of

Biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff) , students = 22 ...

from 1977 to 2004, where he served as Dean of Graduate School of Biostudies from 2001 to 2003. After retiring from Kyoto University and becoming Professor Emeritus, he has been Professor of the G0 Cell Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.

Awards and honors

Mitsuhiro Yanagida Isamu Akasaki Saiichi Nemura Toshiro Nara and Taichiro Mitani 20111103

Yanagida is an Honorary Fellow of the

Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research ...

since 2010 and foreign associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

, USA since 2012.Prof. Mitsuhiro Yanagida elected to US National Academy of Sciences
/ref> He received many awards including the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipient ...

(2011) and the

Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy The is a prestigious honor conferred to two of the recipients of the Japan Academy Prize. Overviews It is awarded in two categories: humanities and natural sciences. The Emperor and Empress visit the awarding ceremony and present a vase to ...

(2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanagida, Mitsuhiro Japanese molecular biologists Japanese biophysicists Japanese physiologists Cell biologists Academic staff of Kyoto University University of Tokyo alumni 1941 births Living people People from Tokyo Laureates of the Imperial Prize Recipients of the Order of Culture Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences