| Osamu Shimomura Born: 27-Aug-1928
Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan
Died: 19-Oct-2018
Location of death: Nagasaki, Japan
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: Asian
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Chemist Nationality: Japan
Executive summary: Green Fluorescent Protein As a teenager, Osamu Shimomura was blinded for several weeks by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. After his vision returned he studied biochemistry, and was assigned the challenge of explaining why some sea life glows. It was a subject of more than mere academic interest, as World War II submarines had been located and sunk after their undersea activity triggered flickering luminescence in nearby deep-sea creatures. In 1962, Shimomura discovered Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in the small, mouse-sized umbrella-shaped glowing jellyfish Aequorea victoria. In order to glow, Aequorea releases calcium ions which bind to a protein that he named aequorin, and that this molecular binding causes a glow. His discovery of GFP and investigations of numerous substrates and enzymes which lead to light emission have made Shimomura the world's preeminent expert on luminescent chemistry. Since his retirement in 2001, he has continued his research in the basement laboratory at his home. In 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Wife: Akemi (one son, one daughter)
Son: Tsutomu Shimomura (physicist)
Daughter: Sachi Shimomura
University: BS, Nagasaki College of Pharmacy (1951)
University: MS Organic Chemistry, Nagoya University (1958)
University: PhD Organic Chemistry, Nagoya University (1960)
Scholar: Biology, Princeton University (1960-63)
Teacher: Chemistry, Nagoya University (1963-65)
Scholar: Research Biochemistry, Princeton University (1965-80)
Professor: Organic Chemistry, Boston University (1980-2001)
Scholar: Marine Biological Laboratory
Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2008 (with Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien)
Asahi Prize 2007
Pearse Prize 2004
Japanese Ancestry
Author of books:
Bioluminescence: Chemical Principles and Methods (2006)
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