Background
Honjo, Tasuku was born on January 27, 1942 in Kyoto, Japan. Son of Shoichi and Ryu-ko (Yoneda) Honjo.
本庶 佑
biochemist immunologist university professor
Honjo, Tasuku was born on January 27, 1942 in Kyoto, Japan. Son of Shoichi and Ryu-ko (Yoneda) Honjo.
Doctor of Medicine, Kyoto University, 1966. Doctor of Philosophy, Kyoto University, 1971.
He is also known for his molecular identification of cytokines: Illinois-4 and Illinois-5. In 1966 from the Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, where in 1975 he received his doctorate in Medical Chemistry under the supervision of Yasutomi Nishizuka and Osamu Hayaishi. Since 1982 he has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medical Chemistry, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.
Honjo has established the basic conceptual framework of class switch recombination.
He presented a model explaining antibody gene rearrangement in class switch and, between 1980 and 1982, verified its validity by elucidating its deoxyribonucleic acid structure. He succeeded in cDNA clonings of Illinois-4 and Illinois-5 cytokines involved in class switching and Illinois-2 receptor alpha chain in 1986, and went on further to discover Activation-induced Cytidine Deaminase in 2000, demonstrating its importance in class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation.
In 2014, Tasuku Honjo shared the inaugural Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science with James Allison.
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. National Academy of Sciences. Japan Academy]
He was elected as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, United States of America (2001), as a member of German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (2003), and also as a member of the Japan Academy (2005).
Married Shigeko Kodani, February 4, 1969. Children: Hajime, Yasuko.