Minutes of the Third ABCC/RERF History Forum
Speaker:Dr. Akio Awa, former Associate Chief of Research and Chief of Department ofGenetics

Host:

Mr. Takanobu Teramoto, Executive Director

Date:

15:00 - 16:10, October 10 (Fri.), 2014

Place:

Videoconference: Auditorium in Hiroshima
Conference Room in Nagasaki Laboratory

Laboratory andThird-floor(Honorifics omitted)
Katayama (Chief of Department of Information Technology): We invited Dr. Akio Awa, aconsultant to the Department of Genetics and former Chief of Department of Genetics andAssociate Chief of Research, as the speaker for this history forum. Mr. Teramoto will serve asthe host.
Teramoto: Thank you for your introduction, Dr. Katayama. This is the third history forum.
The previous two speakers were general employees at ABCC/RERF in Nagasaki andHiroshima, and the minutes of these two forums are posted on the RERF official website. The
speaker today is a retired researcher, Dr. Awa.
In 1967, Dr. Awa graduated from the Department of Zoology, Hokkaido University
School of Science and joined ABCC. He worked at ABCC for eight years from 1967 until
ABCC’s reorganization into RERF in 1975 and at RERF for about 20 years until hisretirement. He was appointed the first chief of the Department of Genetics in 1985, promoted
to Associate Chief of Research in 1994, and retired when he reached the mandatory retirement
age in 1995. He then served as an RERF consultant for the next four years, the last two yearsof which he concurrently served as Associate Chief of Research again. He is now serving as aconsultant to the Department of Genetics.
Dr. Awa, you contributed an article titled, “Ten Thousand Days Atop Hijiyama” to theRERF Update, which was published in its Spring 2002 and Spring 2003 issues. The article
summarized the history of your academic life since you joined ABCC, dedicated to the workof developing a technology for estimating radiation doses based on chromosome aberration. I
assume this will be the main topic of your talk today. Would you first tell us how you joined
ABCC?
Awa: Thank you for your introduction. I spent two years at the University of Texas Medical
Branch at Galveston and later in Pasadena, California between 1960 and 1962. I was in mythirties then, searching for a direction in my research career, and I chose the field ofchromosome research.
Teramoto: You then decided to implement chromosome studies at ABCC?
Awa: Yes. Dr. Michael Bender* of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) came toSapporo in 1963 and invited me to work at ABCC, which needed to initiate chromosomeresearch. At that time, I had a Ph.D., but was working at Hokkaido University with no pay,
13rd History Forummaking a living doing part-time jobs. One year after I received the job offer from Dr. Bender,
I had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Ernest Chu of the ORNL in Ohdori Park in Sapporo. Healso encouraged me to work at ABCC. He seemed to be a cheerful and sincere person, so I
thought that it would not be a bad idea to work at ABCC, recommended by such a good
person. At least it would be better than working for a hardheaded professor at the university.
Although it is not nice to speak ill of the deceased, he really was an intimidating professor.
Teramoto: You said you chose chromosome research while you were working at the university.
Was a significant advance made in the field of chromosome or DNA research around that timein the 1950s?
Awa: Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA in 1953. Shortly after that, it wasproven that human beings have 46 chromosomes, not 48. It became possible to visualize
chromosomes in cultured blood lymphocytes and analyze them.
Teramoto: After you joined ABCC, you initiated your work of chromosome analyses. Were
you off to a good start?
Awa: What bothered me the most was the scarcity of microscopes. Each worker needed one
dedicated microscope. To observe chromosomes, they need to be magnified 1,000 times.
However, the largest chromosome is 19 µm, and 1,000-fold magnification would not makethem too easy to observe. Our job was to take photographs of chromosomes throughmicroscopes, then sketch and analyze them. It was the dawn of the age of full-scalechromosome research. My work started from scratch, and researchers were competing inhuman chromosome research. Microscopes were the most important item for researchers who
were studying chromosomes. Thus, we requested that microscopes, however expensive, bepurchased.
Teramoto: You investigated the frequency of chromosome aberrations. I understand that sometypes of aberrations are very short lived (unstable chromosome aberrations) and some others
are persistent for decades (stable chromosome aberrations). Did you wonder which type you
should focus on?
Awa: It is easy to detect chromosome aberrations immediately after radiation exposure.
However, I joined ABCC more than 20 years after the atomic bombings. I was absolutelyconvinced from my work experience in the U.S. that A-bomb effects had been engraved inchromosomes as aberrations, so I was anticipating various positive results even before we
initiated our studies.
When blood samples collected from human beings are cultured, only lymphocytes
survive. If we prepare samples exactly when the surviving lymphocytes start to undergo thefirst cell division, we will have beautiful chromosome samples, which enable us to identify
individuals with damaged DNA. I was convinced that the technology I learned in the U.S.
could be utilized at ABCC.
Teramoto: That is probably why you pursued the study of stable-type aberrations withdedication. What was your first impression of Hiroshima?
Awa: The first two days after I arrived in Hiroshima were very clear and sunny. It was January.
2

3rd History ForumI stayed at Hijiyama Hall and looked for an apartment until my family joined me in Hiroshima.
Hijiyama Hall was called the BOQ, short for “Bachelors Officers Quarters” back then andfood was served there. Dr. George B. Darling, then ABCC Director, and ABCC researchers
lived in the BOQ.
Teramoto: You continued your studies of chromosome aberrations, which led to the findingthat chromosome aberration frequencies were in proportion to the T65D dose estimates.
Meanwhile, cases with a discrepancy between chromosome aberration frequencies and T65D
dose estimates were observed, and researchers tried to determine whether the discrepancy
stemmed from errors in dosimetry or from biological individual differences. This story is
described in your article in the Update. Could you share with us some anecdotes about yourstruggles?
Awa: We found several unbelievable cases while examining the relationship between dose
estimates and chromosome aberration frequencies. They included proximally-exposed
survivors with no chromosome aberrations and distally-exposed survivors with chromosome
aberrations. We called them DCs (discrepancy cases), cases with a discrepancy fromprediction. I assume those cases included individuals who wanted to hide the fact that they
had been exposed to A-bomb radiation for marriage or various other reasons.
Teramoto: Was there a dispute between the Departments of Statistics and Genetics over theinterpretation of this discrepancy?
Awa: Yes, and each group refused to yield.
Teramoto: By that time, the biennial blood sample collection from AHS participants had
already begun. I assume researchers examined samples collected from the same subjects onmultiple occasions and concluded that the argument of your group was correct.
Awa: Yes. We examined each sample many times, in some cases as many as 10 times, anddetermined that no individual variation was involved. However, what troubled us was thatchromosome aberrations might increase with age. Dying lymphocytes in particular have anenormous number of aberrations. I called such lymphocytes “swan-song lymphocytes.”
Lymphocytes die after completing their jobs of ingesting bacteria and other things. I do notremember lymphocytes’ lifespan. [An attendee said it is two to three years.] Thymic
lymphocytes live quite long. I hypothesized that chromosome aberrations deteriorate DNA
functions, resulting in premature death. However, no study has ever been conducted toexamine individual thymic lymphocyte. So this is my personal hypothesis.
Okubo: Each living organism has both dying and new lymphocytes. Will the age of thelymphocyte examined affect the result of examination?
Awa: The issue of lymphocytes’ lifespan is difficult. Lymphocytes die for various reasons.
Some die after ingesting invaders that they encounter, while new ones enter the circulation
one after another. Yet, for example, some individuals continue to have chromosome
aberrations 40 years after their A-bomb exposure. I examined chromosomes of A-bomb
survivors for 20 years, that is, 10 AHS examination cycles, expecting to see decreased
frequencies of aberration cells, but I did not observe any such decrease. I cannot help
3

3rd History Forumwondering why. Another finding that I did not understand was why there were no individual
differences. All cases were somehow similar.
Teramoto: Did you examine a certain number of lymphocytes to determine a general trend?
Okubo: Dr. Awa explained to us the changes observed when a given individual was followed
up for a certain period of time. Mr. Teramoto’s question concerns the variability among 10
lymphocytes, for example.
Awa: We usually examined 100 lymphocytes because it would be easier to calculate
percentages.
Okubo: What was the variability among the 100 lymphocytes you examined per one blood
sample?
Awa: There was a certain level of variability, but Dr. Dale Preston (former Chief ofDepartment of Statistics), who performed the statistical analysis, said that it was within therange of error.
Teramoto: You continued your studies of chromosome aberrations and developed abiodosimetry that is based on blood samples. Now, could you tell us about any persons orincidents that left a strong impression?
Awa: Dr. Charles Marc Pomerat, my mentor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, left
the strongest impression. He served as the chairman of the American Tissue Culture
Association. He was usually very good-natured, and we could tell his mood by the way hespoke. He was in a good mood when he spoke fast and in a bad mood when he spoke slowly.
What he taught me was very valuable. Without it, I would not have been able to do research atABCC.
Teramoto: Who left a strong impression at ABCC/RERF?
Awa: There were many such individuals. I am particularly grateful to the heads of theDepartment of Medicine. Blood drawing was not a common practice in Japan before WorldWar II, but it was in the U.S. There were such differences in culture and customs between thetwo countries. I think one of the reasons why A-bomb survivors were very reluctant to cometo ABCC for health examinations was that they had to give blood for various tests.
Teramoto: This will be my last question. Radiation exposure has become a significant social
issue since the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011. Health surveys of residentsof Fukushima prefecture are being conducted, in which RERF researchers are cooperating.
Detailed surveys and interviews are needed there, but I assume it is quite difficult to gain theunderstanding of the human subjects and participants in conducting surveys and studies.
Fortunately, as high as 70-80% of the cohort members have participated in our AHS program,and its study results are being used as the basis of international radiation protection standards.
I think the AHS can be regarded as a success. I am sure that researchers, technicians andclerical employees went through enormous troubles before the AHS reached that stage. Could
you share with us some of your experiences or struggles?
43rd History ForumAwa: I gave advice to Fukushima Medical University, which planned to establish achromosome laboratory after the nuclear power plant accident. It is possible to have the same
slides examined by multiple institutions for better accuracy and data.
Y. Kodama: We also had discussions with the university on our possible assistance to them intheir efforts of establishing the lab, such as for the training of technicians.
Teramoto: The floor is now open for questions.
Okubo: ABCC/RERF developed physical dosimetry systems, from T65D to DS86 and DS02,
while you worked on chromosome-based biodosimetry from 1967. How did your work relate
to the development of physical dosimetry? How was the chromosome-based biodosimetry
work taken or viewed at RERF?
Awa: Our research is nothing but biodosimetry and will be all right as long as we collaboratewith statisticians. Dr. Preston of the Department of Statistics analyzed data for all of mychromosome studies. The plan was to follow up the same A-bomb survivors from different
angles.
Okubo: I, as the RERF Chairman, am curious to know whether or not ABCC/RERF
appropriated enough budgets for your research.
Awa: I do not have an answer to that question. My studies required monies only for
microscopes and photographs. Microscope slides were very cheap. Culture solutions wereprobably a little more expensive, although they were inexpensive considering the nutrients
they contained. I am tone-deaf when it comes to money. Please ask that question to theAccounting Section. [An attendee said Dr. Awa’s studies cost little.]
Okubo: I just wanted to know how you thought you were regarded.
Awa: I think I am impudent.
By the way, ABCC had a mortuary. Bodies were brought to ABCC during the night,
autopsied, examined, and sewn up. Then they were returned to their surviving families after
prayers suiting their religions were offered. The staff made such efforts to soothe theresentment of the citizens at ABCC, an American research institute.
Teramoto: That has reminded me of an anecdote in your Update article that the Crow
Committee’s recommendations enabled your studies to continue when there was a dispute
over discrepancies between T65D dose estimates and chromosome aberration data.
Awa: The Crow Committee painstakingly examined our data in detail, and showed a future
direction for ABCC/RERF research. The committee said that the cytogenetic approach wasvery effective, which overjoyed me.
Teramoto: The Crow Committee’s recommendations turned the tables?
Awa: Not exactly. Dr. Crow made two points. One was that the cytogenetic studies were5

3rd History Forumconducted only by Japanese researchers while the majority of researchers at ABCC wereAmericans. The other was that biological dosimetry was a very promising effective approach.
Okubo: Staining methods have changed. I do not believe I can detect chromosome aberrations
stained in the old methods, but I feel I can detect aberrations stained in modern methods.
Would you tell us when and how the modern methods were developed and the struggles thatyou had.
Awa: The FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) method visualizes translocations, in whichparts of different chromosomes are exchanged and recombined. This technology enables evenlaypersons to detect translocations, each of which is stained in two different colors. Anotherstaining method is the Giemsa banding technique. Combining two or more staining methods
will not only make detection of aberrations more accurate but also make it possible to detect
new types of aberration.
In 2003, I spent half a year in Oak Ridge to develop a system to be used as a standard,
and investigated whether or not the same slides examined in various research institutes inJapan, the U.S., Germany, and France would yield the same results.
Teramoto: The introduction of the FISH technique, which was developed at the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and introduced to ABCC in close collaboration withthem, is described in the Update article.
Awa: When Dr. Mortimer Mendelsohn was an RERF director, I went to the LLNL andconducted studies using various assay systems. We compared assay systems using the samesamples.
Teramoto: Thank you for your talk, Dr. Awa. I wish you the best of health and hope that you
continue to come to RERF to provide research guidance and advice to our juniorinvestigators.
Katayama: Dr. Awa, thank you for coming and sharing your interesting stories with us.
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3rd History Forum