A controversial idea as a cultural resource : The Lysenko controversy and discussions of genetics as a \u27democratic\u27 science in postwar Japan.

The Japanese discussion of the theory of Soviet agronomist Trofim D. Lysenko began in the postwar years under the American occupation. Leftists introduced Lysenko’s theory immediately after the war as part of a postwar scientists’ movement. Unlike many American geneticists, who sharply criticized the theory, Japanese geneticists initially participated in the discussion in an even-handed way; their scientific interests in the roles of cytoplasm and the environment in heredity shaped their initial sympathetic reaction. As the Cold War divide deepened, however, Japanese scientists began expressing sharp anti-Lysenko criticisms that resembled the American criticisms. Interestingly, throughout the period, Japanese geneticists’ overall aim in the discussion remained largely unchanged: to effectively reconstruct their discipline and maintain its proper image and authority. However, the shift in their reaction occurred due to an evolving sociopolitical context, especially the shift in the meaning of ‘democratic’ science from a science that employed democratic processes to a science of a liberal-democratic state. Regarding Lysenko’s idea as a cultural resource could help to explain how and why it was treated differently in different places, and why a controversy emerged in certain contexts but not in others

Postwar Reconstruction of Japanese Genetics: Kihara Hitoshi and the Rockefeller Foundation Rice Project in Cold War Asia

This paper examines the post-Occupation reconstruction of Japanese genetics by considering its relations with both US postwar interests and Japanese wartime activities in Asia. In the 1950s, the Rockefeller Foundation approached Kihara Hitoshi,1 a prominent Japanese plant geneticist, as part of their interests in a large agricultural project in Cold War Asia, which eventually developed into what is now known as the Green Revolution. Kihara used this opportunity to bring in necessary resources for Japanese geneticists, obtaining a grant from the foundation to research the origin of cultivated rice at the National Institute of Genetics (NIG). When the foundation established the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines in 1960, Kihara was named one of the trustees. Using the IRRI network, Kihara integrated the NIG into the international network and reestablished Japanese rice geneticists’ authority internationally through the standardization of rice gene symbols. With the foundation’s support, Japanese geneticists reentered fields in Asia soon after Japan began restoring its diplomatic relations. In this article, I show that Kihara’s postwar reconstruction effort was a continuation of Japanese geneticists’ longstanding development of resources, networks, and authority in Asia since wartime. I also suggest that examining interactions between the foundation/IRRI and the Japanese rice research community broadens our understanding of the history of rice science in Asia, including that of the Green Revolution, whose narrative is often centered on postwar US interests

Peaceful atoms in Japan: Radioisotopes as shared technical and sociopolitical resources for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and the Japanese scientific community in the 1950s

In this paper, I discuss how Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) officials and local Japanese scientists interacted to advance their scientific and sociopolitical goals. The ABCC had serious public relations problems but the agency’s access to radioisotopes, valuable to both groups, created an opportunity to collaborate. In 1955, the ABCC established a Radioisotope Laboratory in Hiroshima, in part to improve public relations. Local scientists saw the laboratory as a resource to develop their research programs. At the same time, the ABCC needed local scientists to establish public legitimacy and recruited prominent Japanese scientists to join the ABCC including at the management level. The agency also tried to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy among the public by creating a permanent exhibit for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Situating the ABCC in the broader context of postwar Japanese medicine and science, I suggest that the needs and desires of the Japanese community influenced the agency’s work. In turn, interactions with the ABCC also affected Japanese science and medical research: ultimately, this collaborative promotion of radioisotope research resulted in increased use of isotopes in Japanese human subjects, including the survivors

Atomic Bomb Survivor Studies and their Current Significance: Comparison between the Practices of the ABCC-RERF and the RIRBM

Medical research spurred by radiation exposure is a critically important theme for modern society. Accordingly, studies of this contemporary problem should be based on a perspective that is focused on that origin, medical investigations into the effects of radiation exposure on survivors of the atomic bombs. Therefore, we organized and evaluated survey programs and research of atomic bomb survivors that have been conducted by ABCC (Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission) –RERF (Radiation Effects Research Foundation) and RIRBM (Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine) between 1949 and 1975. ABCC established a set of carefully defined cohorts and launched an integrated research program based on three phases of pure research. That work has formed the foundation for the research that the RERF is engaged in today. And among surveys and studies worldwide that have generated fundamental data on radiation protection standards, the findings of ABCC-RERF surveys and studies have provided important information. It has thus provided various international research organizations (WHO (World Health Organization), ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection), UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation), etc.) with important information and indicators. RIRBM has pursued studies and surveys that are distinct from the undertakings led by ABCC-RERF. RIRBM was able to do something that ABCC-RERF would have found difficult to implement: namely, flexibly launching projects on themes that directly met the needs of the local society at the time. Atomic bomb survivors’ medical data continue to grow, from the bombing to the present, and to the future. Data sharing, joint research, and collaboration by research institutions in this field will be effective ways to foster rationally coordinated surveys and studies

「神奈川ゆかりの科学者 木原均」～その足跡から日本の遺伝学の歴史を読み解く～

　小麦遺伝学者の木原均（きはら　ひとし；1893－1986）は、日本の遺伝学の発展に大きく貢献した学者の一人です。今日は、木原の研究のうち、小麦の祖先の発見について、「生物多様性」という観点からお話ししたいと思います。　人類は、長い歴史の中で、さまざまな環境条件下に強い品種を育て、冷害、干ばつ、虫害など農業に襲いかかる災いと闘ってきました。これらの品種は、変異に富んだ自然（生物多様性）を利用して育てられてきたものです。　１９２０年代に、ようやく、科学者は、農耕によって培われたこのような知恵の重要さに気がつき、今ある栽培植物の品種がどのようにできてきたのかを研究し始めました。農業大国のロシアでは、遺伝学者のニコライ・バビロフが、無数の植物を世界中から集め、栽培植物の起源に関する説を発表。その説に刺激され、日本では、木原均が、小麦種の進化の研究を開始しました。しかし、農業における生物多様性の重要な役割がわかり始めるとともに、社会の多様性は失われていきました。長い戦争、占領を経て、木原が小麦の起源地であるといわれたアフガニスタンに行って小麦の祖先にあたる植物をようやく採集することができたのは、１９５５年のことでした。　生物多様性を守るには、まず、人類が、学問の画一化、視野の単一化、狭いナショナリズムに陥ることなく、多様な価値観を持つことが必要である。今年の生き物会議への提言のようにも聞こえますが、２０年以上前に木原が残した言葉です。第13回学術講演会；2010年11月3日（祝）10:30～12:30 葉山キャンパス　共通棟2階　講義室 ■第1セッション 10:30～11:30 講師：飯田 香穂里 ［生命共生体進化学専攻助教

Glucose dehydrogenase is required for normal sperm storage and utilization in female Drosophila melanogaster

Female sperm storage is a key factor for reproductive success in a variety of organisms, including Drosophila melanogaster. The spermathecae, one of the Drosophila sperm storage organs, has been suggested as a long-term storage organ because its secreted substances may enhance the quality of sperm storage. Glucose dehydrogenase (GLD) is widely expressed and secreted in the spermathecal ducts among species of the genus Drosophila. This highly conserved expression pattern suggests that this enzyme might have an important role in female fertility. Here, we examine the function of GLD in sperm storage and utilization using Gld-null mutant females. The absence of GLD reduced the amount of sperm stored in the spermathecae and led to a highly asymmetrical sperm distribution in the two spermathecal capsules of the mutant females. The storage defect was especially severe when the mutant females were crossed to a Gld-mutant male that had previously mated a few hours before the experimental cross. Under this mating condition, the mutant females stored in the spermathecae only one-third of the sperm amount of the wild-type control females. In addition, the mutant females used stored sperm at a slower rate over a longer period compared with wild-type females. Thus, our results indicate that GLD facilitates both sperm uptake and release through the spermathecal ducts

‘The industry must be inconspicuous’: Japan Tobacco’s corruption of science and health policy via the Smoking Research Foundation

Objective: To investigate how and why Japan Tobacco, Inc. (JT) in 1986 established the Smoking Research Foundation (SRF), a research-funding institution, and to explore the extent to which SRF has influenced science and health policy in Japan.Methods: We analysed documents in the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents archive, along with recent Japanese litigation documents and published documents.Results: JT’s effort to combat effective tobacco control was strengthened in the mid-1980s, following privatisation of the company. While remaining under the protection of Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the semiprivatised company lost its ’access to politicos’, opening up a perceived need for collaboration with global cigarette makers. One solution, arrived at through clandestine planning with American companies, was to establish a third-party organisation, SRF, with the hope of capturing scientific and medical authority for the industry. Guarded by powerful people in government and academia, SRF was launched with the covert goal of influencing tobacco policy both inside and outside Japan. Scholars funded by SRF have participated in international conferences, national advisory committees and tobacco litigation, in most instances helping the industry to maintain a favourable climate for the continued sale of cigarettes.Conclusions: Contrary to industry claims, SRF was never meant to be independent or neutral. With active support from foreign cigarette manufacturers, SRF represents the expansion into Asia of the denialist campaign that began in the USA in 1953

PERK EIF2AK3 control of pancreatic β cell differentiation and proliferation is required for postnatal glucose homeostasis

SummaryMutations in PERK (EIF2AK3) result in permanent neonatal diabetes as well as several other anomalies that underlie the human Wolcott-Rallison syndrome, and these anomalies are mirrored in Perk knockout mice. To identify the cause of diabetes in PERK-deficient mice, we generated a series of tissue- and cell-specific knockouts of the Perk gene and performed a developmental analysis of the progression to overt diabetes. We discovered that PERK is specifically required in the insulin-secreting β cells during the fetal and early neonatal period as a prerequisite for postnatal glucose homeostasis. However, PERK expression in β cells is not required at the adult stage to maintain β cell functions and glucose homeostasis. We show that PERK-deficient mice exhibit severe defects in fetal/neonatal β cell proliferation and differentiation, resulting in low β cell mass, defects in proinsulin trafficking, and abrogation of insulin secretion that culminate in permanent neonatal diabetes