Tomoko Ohta
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese scientist working on molecular evolution
. In 1956, she graduated from the University of Tokyo
. After working on the neutral theory of evolution with her mentor, Motoo Kimura
, she became convinced of the importance of the mutations that were nearly neutral. She developed the slightly deleterious model (Ohta, 1973), then a more general form, the nearly neutral theory of evolution. She worked at the Japan
ese National Institute of Genetics
from 1969 to 1996, and, in 2002, she was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences
as a foreign associate in evolutionary biology.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese scientist working on molecular evolution
Molecular evolution
Molecular evolution is in part a process of evolution at the scale of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Molecular evolution emerged as a scientific field in the 1960s as researchers from molecular biology, evolutionary biology and population genetics sought to understand recent discoveries on the structure...
. In 1956, she graduated from the University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
. After working on the neutral theory of evolution with her mentor, Motoo Kimura
Motoo Kimura
was a Japanese biologist best known for introducing the neutral theory of molecular evolution in 1968. He became one of the most influential theoretical population geneticists. He is remembered in genetics for his innovative use of diffusion equations to calculate the probability of fixation of...
, she became convinced of the importance of the mutations that were nearly neutral. She developed the slightly deleterious model (Ohta, 1973), then a more general form, the nearly neutral theory of evolution. She worked at the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese National Institute of Genetics
National Institute of Genetics
The National Institute of Genetics is a Japanese institution founded in 1949.It hosts the DNA Data Bank of Japan....
from 1969 to 1996, and, in 2002, she was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
as a foreign associate in evolutionary biology.
List of Books available in English
- Theoretical aspects of population genetics /Motoo Kimura and Tomoko Ohta (1971)
- Evolution and variation of multigene families /Tomoko Ohta (1980)
- Population genetics and molecular evolution : papers marking the sixtieth birthday of Motoo Kimura /edited by Tomoko Ohta and Kenichi Aoki (1985)
- Tomoko Ohta and the Nearly Neutral Theories: The role of a female geneticist in the neutralist-selectionist controversy/Tomoko Y. Steen (1996) Ph.D. Dissertation. (CORNELL UNIVERSITY)