Profile of Masayori Inouye

Abstract

Masayori Inouye, a distinguished professor at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, has cut a wide swath in biochemistry and molecular biology. His wide-ranging accomplishments include the determination of genetic codons in a protein and thus, for the first time, a partial DNA sequence of a gene, elucidation of the mechanism of biogenesis and assembly of membrane proteins, and creation of a protein-synthesizing bioreactor, among others. Many of his findings hold promise for application in biotechnology and clinical medicine. Inouye, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2019, is now trying to determine how genetic codons first evolved. Inouye’s Inaugural Article (1) presents his hypothesis that primordial proteins consisted of seven amino acids, which he is using to synthesize an enzyme that may have been fundamental to the origin of life. Masayori Inouye. Image credit: Colin Germain (Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ). Inouye was born in Port Arthur, Manchuria, which is now known as the Lushunkou District of Dalian, China. His father, who held a PhD in organic chemistry, along with his mother, moved to Port Arthur from Japan as an officer of the Japanese government. His father died seven years later, months before Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor that precipitated United States engagement in World War II. The Soviet Invasion of Manchuria followed in 1945, causing further hardship to Inouye’s family. Local schools closed, preventing him from continuing his studies until 1947, when he, his mother, and two siblings moved to Japan. Despite the challenges, Inouye says he always knew he would be a scientist. He says, “My father’s background strongly influenced me, and in Japan then, the eldest son was expected to inherit the occupation of his father.” Inouye attended Osaka University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and Master’s and PhD degrees …