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The topic for this year is human beings. It has been 10 years since the founding of the Biohistory Journal for the narrative of life in the genome. A map of the human genome has been published, increasing interest in human beings, but this interest is primarily through the focus of science and technology, including medical care and pharmaceutical development. Today, as progress is being made on deciphering the genomes of other living creatures, we have become interested in knowing about homo sapiens as distinct from among the different living creatures and the human beings that later evolved. Our first interest has been in the brain, but the brain is not unique to human beings, and, from the perspective of the body, is just one organ. What is it that makes human beings human beings? When we thought about it, language came to mind. The genome and languagedoes language make human beings human beings in the same way the genome enables the living organism to exist as a living organism? Biohistory Journal No. 33 examines genome information sciences and linguistics research, with a focus on the dialogue with Prof. Tsujii, who approaches language from within the context of information science. Scientist Library examines the life of Dr. Takashi Sugimura, who wrote Butterflies, Cancer, the Unknown, and Me. We're sure you'll enjoy reading how Dr. Sugimura's research career has overlapped the history of cancer research. (Keiko Nakamura) |
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