Osamu Shimomura (1928–2018)

Author of Bioluminescence: Chemical Principles and Methods (Revised Edition)

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Image credit: Osamu Shimomura

Legal name: Shimomura, Osamu
Birthdate: 1928-08-27
Date of death: 2018-10-19
Gender: male
Nationality: Japan
Birthplace: Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Place of death: Nagasaki, Japan
Places of residence: Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan
Renzankan, Manchuria
Isayaha, Nagasaki, Japan
Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
Education: Nagoya University (MS, PhD)
Nagasaki Pharmacy College (BS)
Occupations: Chemist
Relationships: Shimomura, Sachi (child)
Organizations: Princeton University
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Boston University
Awards and honors: Nobel Prize (2008)
Asahi Prize (2006)
Pearse Prize (2004)
Short biography: Dr. Osamu Shimomura was an organic chemist who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on luminescent proteins. When purifying the protein they called aquaeforin, there were also traces of a green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Dr. Shimomura's other notable experience was unrelated to his research. On August 9, 1945, during an air raid, he saw a single B-29 bomber drop a couple of parachutes as it headed towards Nagasaki, soon followed by another B-29. After the all clear siren sounded, there was a flash, a loud sound, and a blast of pressure: the atomic bomb detonating about 25 km away.