Obayashi M
J UOEH. 1986 Jun 1;8(2):251-6. doi: 10.7888/juoeh.8.251.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the origins of molecular biology in Japan. Japanese molecular biology does not have a long history since it started only after World War II. Especially, molecular genetics which uses "bacteriophage" had hardly been studied before the war and only a few scientists were interested in it immediately after the war. This is one of the origins of molecular biology in Japan. But there are other origins, one of which is the group formed by biologists, biochemists and physicists interested in nucleic acids. This group also started just after the war. Still another origin is the group of enzymologists. Enzymology was one of the main subjects of biochemistry from before the war. In Japan, biochemistry developed in conjunction with the medical and agricultural sciences from the pre-war era. These played an important role in introducing molecular biology from Europe and the United States after the war. A historical study of the development of molecular biology in Japan, comparing it with the history of molecular biology in Europe and the United States, should contribute to the elucidation of the features of the history of molecular biology in Japan.
本文旨在探讨日本分子生物学的起源。日本分子生物学的历史并不长，因为它是在第二次世界大战后才开始的。特别是，使用“噬菌体”的分子遗传学在战前几乎没有得到研究，战后也只有少数科学家对其感兴趣。这是日本分子生物学的起源之一。但还有其他起源，其中之一是由对核酸感兴趣的生物学家、生物化学家和物理学家组成的团体。这个团体也是在战后才开始的。另一个起源是酶学家群体。酶学从战前起就是生物化学的主要学科之一。在日本，生物化学从战前时代起就与医学和农业科学共同发展。这些在战后从欧美引入分子生物学方面发挥了重要作用。对日本分子生物学发展的历史研究，将其与欧美分子生物学的历史进行比较，应该有助于阐明日本分子生物学历史的特点。
