chemistry

Takashi Sugimura

Takashi Sugimura is a chemistry 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 Takashi Sugimura rather than just read about it. In short: Takashi Sugimura (杉村隆, Sugimura Takashi; April 20, 1926 – September 6, 2020) was a Japanese biochemist, famous for research on chemical carcinogens. He received the Japan Prize for the contribution to establishment of fundamental concept on causes of cancer.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Takashi Sugimura (杉村隆, Sugimura Takashi; April 20, 1926 – September 6, 2020) was a Japanese biochemist, famous for research on chemical carcinogens. He received the Japan Prize for the contribution to establishment of fundamental concept on causes of cancer. He was elected as President of the Japan Academy on October 15, 2013, serving till 2016 and was followed by Hiroshi Shiono.

Contribution Sugimura isolated and identified many mutagens with a structure of heterocyclic amine from foods cooked under ordinary conditions. He showed that tumors induced by these heterocyclic amines had genetic alterations. He further developed his studies to analyze multiple-step carcinogenesis at molecular levels to promote effective primary prevention of cancer. His group identified the novel polymer poly(ADP-ribose) and demonstrated the presence of the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP). He also discovered the cognate catabolic enzyme, poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) and further elucidated the biology of poly(ADP-ribose). The discovery of pierisin, an apoptogenic peptide that ADP-ribosylates DNA, profoundly illuminates his scientific character and curiosity as well.

Biography Sugimura completed his M.D. in 1949 from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, and received the degree of Doctor of Medical Science in 1957 from the same institution. After his postdoctoral fellowship at the Cancer Institute, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, he became Chief of Biochemistry Division at the Research Institute, National Cancer Center in Tokyo in 1962, where he served as President from 1984 to 1991. In addition, he was Professor of Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo from 1970 to 1985 and President of Toho University from 1994 to 2000. He was Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy, Honorary Member of Japanese Cancer Association and also President Emeritus of National Cancer Center.

Recognition Sugimura received numerous awards and honors which include the following:

Awards 1976 Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy 1977 Fogarty Scholar in Residence, National Institutes of Health, USA 1978 Outstanding Work Award, Environmental Mutagen Society of the United States 1981 Order of Culture 1981 Charles S. Mott Prize 1992 Tomizo Yoshida Award of the Japanese Cancer Association 1996 National Order of Merit (France) (Officer) 1997 Japan Prize

Honors 1982 Foreign Associate, the National Academy of Sciences, USA 1982 Member, the Japan Academy. 1987 Foreign Member, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Division for Sciences) 1987 Foreign Member, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Class for Medical Sciences) 1994 Foreign Associate, the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, USA

See also List of members of the National Academy of Sciences (Medical genetics, hematology, and oncology)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Takashi Sugimura

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Takashi Sugimura claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, 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 Takashi Sugimura 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 Takashi Sugimura 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 Takashi Sugimura

In research: Takashi Sugimura appears in chemistry 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 Takashi Sugimura 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: Takashi Sugimura is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1926 births, 2020 deaths, 20th-century Japanese biochemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Takashi Sugimura 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 Takashi Sugimura in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Takashi Sugimura 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 Takashi Sugimura out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Takashi Sugimura in simple terms?

Why does Takashi Sugimura matter?

Because it connects several chemistry 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 Takashi Sugimura?

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 Takashi Sugimura.