Tasuku Honjo MD, PhD

Professor Honjo's research has also included major contributions to our understanding of immunoglobulin class switching. In 1978, he developed a model of how antibody gene rearrangement during class switching occurred and went on to verify the model by elucidating the DNA structure.

He also discovered the molecular structures and functions of IL-4 and IL-5, cytokines involved in class switching. More recently, Professor Honjo identified activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) as playing an important role in class switching recombination and somatic hypermutation. He currently serves as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medical Chemistry at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.