biology

Shigekazu Nagata

Shigekazu Nagata is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shigekazu Nagata rather than just read about it. In short: Shigekazu Nagata (長田重一, Nagata Shigekazu; born 1949) is a Japanese biochemist, best known for research on apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death occurring in multi-cellular organisms. Contribution Nagata identified Interferon in 1980 and Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in 1986.

Key takeaways

Shigekazu Nagata belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shigekazu Nagata to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shigekazu Nagata from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Contribution Nagata identified Interferon in 1980 and Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in 1986. He also identified a death factor (Fas receptor) in 1991 and its ligand (Fas ligand) in 1993, and elucidated their physiological and pathological roles in apoptosis.

Biography Nagata was born in Kanazawa, Japan, and completed his PhD under the supervision of Yoshito Kaziro at the University of Tokyo in 1977. Nagata served as a postdoctoral fellow under Charles Weissmann at University of Zurich, where he worked on sequencing the cDNA of Interferon gene between 1977 and 1981. He was assistant professor at the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo between 1982 and 1987, and Head of Department of molecular biology at Osaka Bioscience Institute between 1987 and 1998, where Osamu Hayaishi served as president at that time. Nagata became Professor of genetics at Osaka University Medical School between 1995 and 2007, before being appointed as Professor of medical chemistry at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University in 2007. After retiring from Kyoto University and becoming Professor Emeritus in 2015, Nagata has been Professor of biochemistry and immunology at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University.

Honors and awards 1994: Emil von Boehring Prize, Marburg University 1995: Robert Koch Prize 1996: Prix Lacassagne, French Cancer League 1998: Asahi Prize 2000: Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy 2001: Person of Cultural Merit 2004: Cell Death Society Prize, International Cell Death Society 2010: Member of the Japan Academy 2012: Honorary Doctorate, University of Zurich 2012: Tomizo Yoshida Award, Japanese Cancer Association and Tomizo Yoshida Memorial Hall 2012: Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine 2013: Keio Medical Science Prize 2015: Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences 2016: Asian Scientist 100, Asian Scientist

External links Shigekazu Nagata, Member of the Japan Academy Shigekazu Nagata, Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Science

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shigekazu Nagata

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shigekazu Nagata claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shigekazu Nagata before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shigekazu Nagata ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shigekazu Nagata

In research: Shigekazu Nagata appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shigekazu Nagata in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shigekazu Nagata is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, 21st-century Japanese biochemists, Academic staff of Kyoto University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shigekazu Nagata outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shigekazu Nagata in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shigekazu Nagata means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shigekazu Nagata out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shigekazu Nagata in simple terms?

Shigekazu Nagata (長田重一, Nagata Shigekazu; born 1949) is a Japanese biochemist, best known for research on apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death occurring in multi-cellular organisms. Contribution Nagata identified Interferon in 1980 and Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in 1986.

Why does Shigekazu Nagata matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shigekazu Nagata?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shigekazu Nagata.