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==Books available in English==
==Books available in English==
*''Theoretical aspects of population genetics'', Motoo Kimura and Tomoko Ohta (1971)
* {{cite book |last1=Kimura |first1=Motoo |first2=Tomoko |last2=Ohta |title=Theoretical aspects of population genetics |date=1971 |publisher=Princeton Univ. Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=9780691080987}}
*''Evolution and variation of multigene families'', Tomoko Ohta (1980)
* {{cite book |last1=Ōta |first1=Tomoko |title=Evolution and variation of multigene families |date=1980 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-540-09998-7}}
*''Population genetics and molecular evolution: papers marking the sixtieth birthday of Motoo Kimura'', edited by Tomoko Ohta and Kenichi Aoki (1985)
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Ohta |editor-first1=Tomoko |editor-last2=Aoki |editor-first2=Kenichi |title=Population genetics and molecular evolution : papers marking the sixtieth birthday of Motoo Kimura |date=1985 |publisher=Japan Scientific Societies Press |location=Tokyo |isbn=978-0387155845}}


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 15:53, 28 February 2023

Tomoko Ohta
太田 朋子, Ōta Tomoko
Tomoko Ohta
Born
原田 朋子, Harada Tomoko

(1933-09-07) 7 September 1933 (age 90)
Miyoshi, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materNorth Carolina State University
University of Tokyo
Known forDevelopment of neutral theory of molecular evolution, and nearly neutral theory
SpouseYasuo Ohta (m.1960-1972)
AwardsJapan Academy Prize (1985)
Weldon Memorial Prize (1986)
Crafoord Prize (2015)
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary biology
genetics
InstitutionsNational Institute of Genetics
North Carolina State University
Kihara Institute for Biological Research
Doctoral advisorKen-Ichi Kojima
Other academic advisorsMotoo Kimura
Hitoshi Kihara

Tomoko Ohta (太田 朋子, Ōta Tomoko, born Tomoko Harada 原田 朋子[1] 7 September 1933, Miyoshi, Aichi) is a Japanese scientist working on population genetics/molecular evolution. She is known for developing the nearly neutral theory of evolution. She and Richard Lewontin were jointly awarded the Crafoord Prize for 2015 "for their pioneering analyses and fundamental contributions to the understanding of genetic polymorphism".[2]

Education

Ohta graduated from the Agriculture Department of the University of Tokyo in 1956. Shortly after graduating, she was hired at the Kihara Institute for Biological Research where she focused on the cytogenetics of wheat and sugar beets.

In 1962 an opportunity provided by Hitoshi Kihara to study abroad in the U.S. became available. While a graduate student at the Graduate School of North Carolina State University, she switched her graduate study focus from plant cytogenetics to population genetics. She then was able to assist her advisor, Ken-Ichi Kojima, in working on problems in stochastic population genetics where they took into account the random changes of allele frequencies. She obtained her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1966. Because she had studied abroad as a Fulbright student, she was only able to stay in the United States to finish her Ph.D.

Career

Returning to Japan, Ohta worked at Japan’s National Institute of Genetics (NIG) under Motoo Kimura, then the only theoretical population geneticist in Japan.[3] Ohta remained at the National Institute of Genetics from 1969 to 1996.[4] In April of 1984, Ohta became a Full Professor in the Department of Population Genetics at NIG. She became Head of the Department of Population Genetics at NIG in 1988, and served as the Vice-Director of the National Institute of Genetics from 1989 to 1991. Ohta was appointed as Vice-President of the Evolution Society in 1993.

Research

After working on the neutral theory of evolution with her mentor Kimura, Ohta became convinced that nearly neutral mutations (neither deleterious nor entirely neutral) played an important role in evolution.[4] She developed the slightly damaging model (Ohta, 1973), then a more general form, the nearly neutral theory of evolution.[5]

When Ohta first published her Nearly Neutral theory, she faced difficulty in attracting the scientific research community's attention. Many researchers at the time strongly supported the natural selection theory.[4] Supporting data in protein evolution was sequentially collected in the 1990s, with even more evidence supporting her theory made available throughout the 21st century.[3] There is more and more evidence evolving that supports her nearly neutral theory of evolution. Some examples include: genetic code and the process that occurs during blood clotting.

Recognition

Ohta’s work in the field of molecular evolution has been recognized internationally.

Books available in English

  • Kimura, Motoo; Ohta, Tomoko (1971). Theoretical aspects of population genetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 9780691080987.
  • Ōta, Tomoko (1980). Evolution and variation of multigene families. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-09998-7.
  • Ohta, Tomoko; Aoki, Kenichi, eds. (1985). Population genetics and molecular evolution : papers marking the sixtieth birthday of Motoo Kimura. Tokyo: Japan Scientific Societies Press. ISBN 978-0387155845.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Colin P.A. (9 November 2016). "So-called egalitarian Japan is still honor-bound". Special To The Japan Times.
  2. ^ a b "The Crafoord Prize in Biosciences 2015". Crafoord Prize. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b Ohta, Tomoko (2012), "Tomoko Ohta", Current Biology, 22 (16): R618–R619, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.06.031, PMID 23082325
  4. ^ a b c Sato, Narumi. "National Institute of Genetics: OHTA, Tomoko - Professor Emeritus". National Institute of Genetics. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. ^ Steen, TY (29 November 2008). "The Case of Ohta Tomoko : A Woman Geneticist in the Neutralist-Selectionist Evolution Controversy". Historia Scientiarum. Second series : international journal of the History of Science Society of Japan. 18 (2): 172–184.
  6. ^ "SMBE Lifetime Contribution Award".

Further reading

External links

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