What did susumu tonegawa study

Japanese scientist (born 1939)

Susumu Tonegawa (利根川 進, Tonegawa Susumu, born September 5, 1939) is a Japanese scientist who was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of V(D)J recombination, the genetic mechanism which produces antibody diversity.^[1] Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training and he again changed fields following his Nobel Prize win; he now studies neuroscience, examining the molecular, cellular and neuronal basis of memory formation and retrieval.

Early life and education

Tonegawa was born in Nagoya, Japan and attended Hibiya High School in Tokyo.^[2] While a student at Kyoto University, Tonegawa became fascinated with operon theory after reading papers by François Jacob and Jacques Monod, whom he credits in part for inspiring his interest in molecular biology.^[3] Tonegawa graduated from Kyoto U