Seeking the source of the characteristics of living creatures in physics

Biohistory Journal, Summer, 2006

Scientist Library: Index > Seeking the source of the characteristics of living creatures in physics

Fumio Osawa,
Professor Emeritus, Nagoya University
Professor Emeritus, Osaka University
Visiting Professor, Aichi Institute of Technology

1922:	Born in Osaka
1944:	Graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a degree in science
1944:	Named assistant in the Faculty of Science at Nagoya University
1950:	Named associate professor in the Faculty of Science at Nagoya University
1959:	Named professor in the Faculty of Science at Nagoya University
1968:	Assumed concurrent duties at the Osaka University School of Engineering Science
1973:	Named professor at the Osaka University School of Engineering Science Assumed concurrent duties at the Faculty of Science at Nagoya University
1986:	Retired from active service at both Osaka University and Nagoya University, and named a professor emeritus at both schools
1987:	Named professor at Aichi Institute of Technology Currently a visiting professor at Aichi Institute of Technology
1963:	Chunichi Culture Award
1975:	Asahi Prize
1985:	Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon; Fujiwara Award
1993:	Received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star


	These are notes I copied of Gibbs’s Elementary Principles of Statistical Mechanics. I made three notebooks in all. This was my start in science.

The reason I majored in physics was that I liked logic. The subjects of my research in physical theory transcending the boundaries of individual disciplines. They shifted from mud and synthetic polymers to high-polymer electrolytes, and finally to muscle in 1949 protein. The lesson I learned from getting involved with biology after starting with physics is that you have to take responsibility for all your experiments. That includes all the washing up. The circumstances for living creatures change based on minor conditions, so it is important to trust your own data, particularly for discussions with other researchers.

When a gel was discovered that could expand and contract like a muscle in 1949, I developed my own theory on that mechanism. That was the reason I met Prof. Reiji Natori and got involved with biology. Prof. Natori had investigated that stage at which contraction and control function disappeared by destroying muscle cells step by step. Starting with the proteins that constitute muscle, we assembled a structure with the objective of discovering the point at which the contraction function was created. Prof. Natori took the macro perspective and I took the micro perspective. The experiments were to understand muscle throughout every level.


	Receiving the Asahi Award (right) in 1975. I was introduced by Dr. Setsurou Ebashi.

We analyzed the state in which the actin molecules that constitute muscle were linked as beads in a water solution and became actin fiber. We demonstrated for the first time that actin coexisted in two states: a scattered state and as long fibers, and that an assembly of organic molecules was in dynamic equilibrium. Later, we formulated the concept of loose coupling, in which the machine that organic molecules create was soft and the relationship between input and output was vague. Organic molecules are measured in units of nanometers, and the heat motility of water molecules are too large to be ignored, so a hard machine with gears meshing in a way that there would be no mistake would not work. We thought that a soft machine that moved while interacting with the surrounding energy would create something like living creatures. Now, I am thinking of the vagueness of a system for creating organic molecules, and the mechanism for generating motility as the basis for the spontaneous generation of living creatures.

(Text: Mari Toyama)

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