Hitoshi Kihara
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{{Infobox academic
| name = Hitoshi Kihara
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Kihara Hitoshi photographed by Shigeru Tamura.jpg
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| caption = circa 1950
| native_name = 木原均
| native_name_lang = Japanese
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1893|10|21}}
| birth_place = Tokyo, Japan
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1986|07|27|1893|10|21}}
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| nationality = Japanese
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| occupation = Emeritus professor
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| known_for = Wheat genetics
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| alma_mater = Kyoto University
| thesis_title = Cytologische und genetische Studien bei wichtigen Getreidearten mit besonderer Rucksicht auf das Verhalten der Chromosomen und die Sterilitat in den Bastarden
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| thesis_year = 1924
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| discipline = Genetics
| sub_discipline = Agriculture
| workplaces = Kihara Institute for Biological Research
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| footnotes = This infobox contains information translated from the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article
}}
{{Nihongo|Hitoshi Kihara|木原 均|Kihara Hitoshi|21 October 1893 – 27 July 1986}} was a Japanese geneticist known for his work on the genetics of wheat.{{cite journal|last= Crow|first= James F.|authorlink= James F. Crow|title=Anecdotal, Historical and Critical Commentaries on Genetics |date=August 1991|journal=Genetics|publisher=Genetics Society of America|volume= 137 |issue= 4|pages=891–894 |doi= 10.1093/genetics/137.4.891|pmid= 7982570|pmc= 1206066|oclc=469812548|url=http://www.genetics.org/content/137/4/891.full.pdf|accessdate=22 January 2013|doi-access=free}}
Biography
Hitoshi Kihara was born on 21 October 1893 in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido Imperial University and served as a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University from 1927 to 1956 and the National Institute of Genetics from 1955 to 1969, and also served at Kihara Institute for Biological Research from 1942 to 1984. He was elected a member of the Japan Academy,{{cite web|work=Japan Academy |title= KIHARA, Hitoshi, Deceased members of the Japan Academy |url=http://www.japan-acad.go.jp/en/members/bukko/k_gyo.html |accessdate=30 January 2013}} the United States National Academy of Sciences,{{Cite web |title=H. Kihara |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/45996.html |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=nasonline.org}} the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,{{Cite web |title=Hitoshi Kihara |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/hitoshi-kihara |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}} and the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Hitoshi+Kihara&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}
Since 1983, the Genetics Society of Japan (GSJ) has awarded the Kihara Prize to researchers who made a considerable achievement in the field of genetics in honor of Hitoshi Kihara who contributed on a global scale to the field of genetics and study of evolution with his research centering on wheat.{{cite web |work=The Genetics Society of Japan |title=The Kihara Prize and The GSJ Award for Young Scientists|url=http://gsj3.jp/eng/e-soc-priz.html |accessdate=30 January 2013}}
In 1985, the Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation for the Advancement of Life Sciences was established in Yokohama, to commemorate Hitoshi Kihara and to promote life sciences.{{cite web |work=Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation for the Achievement of Life Sciences |title=ABSTRACT OF THE FOUNDATION |url=http://kihara.or.jp/english/kihara/abstract.html |accessdate=30 January 2013 |archive-date=2 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202111420/http://kihara.or.jp/english/kihara/abstract.html |url-status=dead }}
Contribution
At that time, it was mandatory for a Japanese academic to work overseas for a number of years in order to gain admission as members of research faculties. While working in Germany, Hitoshi Kihara studied the genetics of Rumex acetosella and other Sorrel species, and discovered the sex chromosomes. In 1936, he noticed that in wheat seven chromosomes become a pair that performs the lowest gene function, and thus named it genome.{{cite web |work=The World’s Greatest Japanese | title=Hitoshi Kihara, a proponent of the genome concept |url=http://www.japanese-greatest.com/biology-medicine/genome.html |accessdate=30 January 2013}} The concept of genome extended all over the world and formed the basis for development of biology and genetic engineering.
See also
References
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External links
- [http://kihara.or.jp/english/index_e.html Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation for the Advancement of Life Sciences] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204021017/http://kihara.or.jp/english/index_e.html |date=4 February 2014 }}
- [http://www.yokohama-cu.ac.jp/eng/research/kihara.html Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129154705/http://www.yokohama-cu.ac.jp/eng/research/kihara.html |date=29 November 2013 }}
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Category:20th-century Japanese botanists
Category:Scientists from Tokyo
Category:Academic staff of Kyoto University
Category:Hokkaido University alumni
Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences