- Born:
- July 12, 1935, Yamanashi prefecture, Japan (age 91)
- Awards And Honors:
- Nobel Prize (2015)
- Subjects Of Study:
- anthelmintic
- fatty acid
- parasitism
Ōmura Satoshi
-
Who is Ōmura Satoshi?
Ōmura Satoshi (born July 12, 1935) is a Japanese microbiologist celebrated for discovering natural products from soil bacteria. His most notable achievement was the identification of Streptomyces avermitilis, a bacterium from which avermectin, an anthelmintic compound, was isolated. Ivermectin, a derivative of avermectin, became a crucial drug for controlling parasitic diseases in humans and animals.
Ōmura's work led to him sharing the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with William Campbell and Tu Youyou. He holds multiple advanced degrees, including a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Tokyo and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Tokyo University of Science. Throughout his career, Ōmura held various prominent positions at the Kitasato Institute and Kitasato University.
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What is microbiology, and what did Ōmura Satoshi study?
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, algae, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. It focuses on their structure, function, and classification, as well as how to utilize and control their activities.
Ōmura Satoshi (1935–) was a Japanese microbiologist known for discovering natural products from soil bacteria. His most notable discovery was the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis, from which the anthelmintic compound avermectin was isolated. A derivative of avermectin, ivermectin, became a key drug in controlling parasitic diseases in humans and animals. Ōmura's research centered on isolating bioactive chemical compounds from microorganisms, and he developed novel techniques for culturing soil bacteria in laboratories.
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What important medicine did Ōmura Satoshi help discover?
Ōmura Satoshi helped discover the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis, from which avermectin was isolated. A derivative of avermectin known as ivermectin is a key drug in the control of certain parasitic diseases in humans and other animals. Ivermectin is used as a dewormer in livestock and other animals, and to treat river blindness in humans. For his contributions to the discovery of avermectin and ivermectin, Ōmura received the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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How does the medicine discovered by Ōmura Satoshi help people and animals?
\u014cmura Satoshi, a Japanese microbiologist, discovered the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis, which led to the isolation of avermectin. A derivative of avermectin, known as ivermectin, has become a crucial drug for controlling parasitic diseases in humans and animals.
Ivermectin is used as a dewormer in livestock and other animals. It treats nematode and arthropod infections in horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep. It also prevents heartworm disease in dogs. In humans, ivermectin is used to treat onchocerciasis (river blindness), a filarial disease caused by the helminth Onchocerca volvulus. The drug eliminates microfilariae, which accumulate in the eye and can cause blindness.
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What awards did Ōmura Satoshi receive for his scientific work?
Ōmura Satoshi, a Japanese microbiologist, is known for discovering natural products from soil bacteria. His discovery of Streptomyces avermitilis led to the isolation of avermectin, whose derivative, ivermectin, treats parasitic diseases.
For his work, Ōmura received several awards and honors, including the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with William Campbell and Tu Youyou. In 2014, he also received the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award. He was elected an honorary member of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2005 and authored over 1,100 scientific papers.
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Why is Ōmura Satoshi's discovery considered important in the history of medicine?
\u014cmura Satoshi's discovery of Streptomyces avermitilis, a bacterium from which avermectin was isolated, is highly significant. A derivative of avermectin, known as ivermectin, became a crucial drug for controlling parasitic diseases like river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) in humans and other animals. These diseases were major causes of debilitating illness, especially in tropical regions. His work provided a means of preventing and treating parasitic diseases, particularly in areas with unsanitary conditions, poor water quality, or lack of knowledge about parasites. For his contributions, \u014cmura was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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Ōmura Satoshi (born July 12, 1935, Yamanashi prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese microbiologist known for his discovery of natural products, particularly from soil bacteria. Of special importance was Ōmura’s discovery of the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis, from which the anthelmintic compound avermectin was isolated. A derivative of avermectin known as ivermectin became a key drug used in the control of certain parasitic diseases in humans and other animals. For his contributions to the discovery of avermectin and ivermectin, Ōmura received the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (shared with Irish-born American parasitologist William Campbell and Chinese scientist Tu Youyou).
Ōmura earned a bachelor’s degree in 1958 from the University of Yamanashi and a master’s in 1963 from the Tokyo University of Science. In 1968 he completed a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Tokyo, and two years later, having returned to the Tokyo University of Science, he also earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. From 1963 to 1965, Ōmura worked as a research associate at the University of Yamanashi, and he afterward served under the same title at the Kitasato Institute, then one of the world’s leading microbiology research facilities. While completing his Ph.D. studies and carrying out research at the institute, he took a position as an associate professor at nearby Kitasato University. Between 1968 and 2007, when Ōmura was named professor emeritus at Kitasato University, he served variously as director and president of the Kitasato Institute as well as a professor and director of the university (the university became part of the institute in 2008). In 2013 he was given the title distinguished emeritus professor at Kitasato.
From the mid-1960s, Ōmura’s research centred on the discovery and isolation of naturally occurring bioactive chemical compounds from microorganisms, particularly from bacteria living in the soil. Ōmura developed novel techniques that facilitated the growth of soil bacteria in laboratory cultures and enabled the characterization of the substances they produced. Among his first major discoveries was the identification in the mid-1970s of cerulenin, an antibiotic produced by a species of fungus. Ōmura found that cerulenin worked by inhibiting the biosynthesis of fatty acids. The compound subsequently became an important research tool.
Also in the mid-1970s, Ōmura discovered and successfully cultured new strains of Streptomyces soil bacteria, including S. avermitilis. Ōmura sent a culture of S. avermitilis to researchers at Merck Research Laboratories in the United States. There, from broth collected from cultures of the organism, parasitologist William Campbell and colleagues identified a new family of compounds known as avermectins. The Merck researchers subsequently modified the avermectin structure, thereby producing ivermectin, which was found to be active against the microfilariae (larvae) of certain threadlike nematodes. Ivermectin became one of the world’s most-important anthelmintic agents, being used to treat various microfilariae-associated parasitic diseases in humans and other animals. In humans, the drug proved to be especially valuable for the prevention of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), which were major causes of debilitating disease in the tropics.
Ōmura discovered a number of other important microbial products, including many that became widely used as agrochemicals or as reagents in laboratory research and some that were found to possess antitumour activity. Much of Ōmura’s later research focused on elucidating the genetic mechanisms underlying the production of chemical substances by microorganisms.
Ōmura was an author on more than 1,100 scientific papers and was a member of multiple societies, including the Royal Society of Chemistry, to which he was elected an honorary member in 2005. In addition to the Nobel Prize, he was the recipient of many other honours and awards, including the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award (2014).