Harvey Itano

Harvey Akio Itano
Itano in 1942
Born(1920-11-03)November 3, 1920
Sacramento, California
DiedMay 8, 2010(2010-05-08) (aged 89)
La Jolla, California
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley, St. Louis University, California Institute of Technology
Known forDifferentiating normal and sickle cell hemoglobins
AwardsEli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1954)
Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Achievement Award
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
Institutions
ThesisI. Contributions to the Study of Sickle Cell Hemoglobin II. A Rapid Diagnostic Test for Sickle Cell Anemia (1950)
Doctoral advisorLinus Pauling

Harvey Akio Itano (Japanese: ハーベイ・アキオ・イタノ[1], November 3, 1920 – May 8, 2010) was an American biochemist best known for his work on the molecular basis of sickle cell anemia and other diseases. In collaboration with Linus Pauling, Itano used electrophoresis to demonstrate the difference between normal hemoglobin and sickle cell hemoglobin; their 1949 paper "Sickle Cell Anemia, a Molecular Disease" (coauthored also with S. J. Singer and Ibert C. Wells)[2] was a landmark in both molecular medicine and protein electrophoresis, though the use of electrophoresis to separate hemoglobin variants had been pioneered by Maud Menten and collaborators some years earlier.[3]

In 1979, Itano became the first Japanese American elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences (in the Genetics section). Itano was an emeritus professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego.[4] In 2010, Itano died of complications from Parkinson's disease in La Jolla, California.[5]

  1. ^ Transcription from Japanese version of the article.
  2. ^ Pauling, Linus; Harvey A. Itano; S. J. Singer; Ibert C. Wells (1949-11-01). "Sickle Cell Anemia, a Molecular Disease". Science. 110 (2865): 543–548. Bibcode:1949Sci...110..543P. doi:10.1126/science.110.2865.543. PMID 15395398. S2CID 31674765.
  3. ^ Andersch, M. A.; Wilson, D. A.; Menten, M. L. (1944). "Sedimentation constants and electrophoretic mobilities of adult and fetal carbonylhemoglobin". J. Biol. Chem. 153: 301–305. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)51237-0.
  4. ^ K. W. Lee. "Remarkable Parents Who Raised Remarkable Family." Sacramento Union, June 25, 1979. Reprint from the Nichi Bei Times accessed August 25, 2008.
  5. ^ "In Memoriam: UC San Diego Pathology Professor Harvey Itano, MD, PhD, 1920-2010". Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2010-06-08.