Tsuneko Okazaki & Okazaki fragments - how did she & Reiji find them?

[@Hyumifu]

Thank you so much for this! I just found it strange that she isn't mentioned ever in our books.

[@thebumblingbiochemist]

she definitely should be!

[@aotoda486]

Textbooks around the world are way too conservative and under-representative 😥

[@aotoda486]

Thankfully, this is no longer the case, when I google her name now I get the description "Japanese Researcher" which is wayyyy more apt. I read about her civil contributions to the development of child support in Japan (as through the austerity of the 70's she had to raise her kids as a single mother after Reiji died), and geez, there is *so much* about her story on TOP of the Okazaki fragments.

[@joeyp1927]

Thank you for this wonderful tour of Okazaki's fragments and Tsuneko's work. I have been fascinated by Okazaki fragments ever since since I encountered this funny name 'Okazaki' that happens to be fun to say out loud, especially when you're studying for a bio exams. BTW, yes it's infuriating that Tsuneko doesn't get the credit she deserves, including a Nobel, but I think this is the case for a lot of Asian scientists, male or female. Just to give an example, Harvey Itano basically founded the field of molecular medicine in the 1940s when he showed that sickle cell anemia is caused by the subsitution of one amino acid for another in the hemoglobin molecule...and this was before the structure of DNA was discovered. Yet he isn't even a footnote in bio or med textbooks, let alone a winner of a Nobel prize, which he arguably deserved. It's sad because, like Tsuneko, he overcame a lot to become a scientist: he could not even attend his own college graduation because he was whisked away to a prison camp during the WWII with the rest of his family and over 100,000 people who shared his background.

[@thebumblingbiochemist]

Wow. I just looked into Harvey Itano and that is quite a story. Thank you for bringing it up and raising attention. I certainly knew about those key experiments but not Itano's role and I hope to look more into him and his research when I have time.

[@joeyp1927]

@@thebumblingbiochemist Thank you for looking into him! Yes he does have a compelling story like many from his generation. I am intrigued by the fact that you had heard about the experiments (ostensibly the ones involving electrophoresis of the wild type and mutated Hemoglobin) but not about Itano's role. He actually got an MLK Jr Award because of the role his research played in improving the health of African Americans, which is noteworthy considering the struggles he and his own group faced. BTW sorry for this mini-lecture but I'm glad that you took interest!

[@thebumblingbiochemist]

Mini-lecture appreciated! And I'm really sorry I'd overlooked his role before. Do you know more specifically which aspects I should credit him specifically for? Thanks!

[@llennzo]

Thank you for the new information! I’m in highschool (junior year) I loved this video so much.

[@llennzo]

I will make sure to read the article and the blog you made!

[@thebumblingbiochemist]

So happy to hear. Keep being curious!