お悔やみ

Lino Saez ...clocked with humility and humor
霜田政美✉
国立研究開発法人農業生物資源研究所支えていたことを伺い知ることができる。また、奥様のMonica Roth博士はご自身も分子生物学者として活躍されており、ご家族からのメッセージは、長い研究者人生を歩む上で何が重要なのかを明示されている。この追悼文は、志をもつ若い研究者の方に、是非読んでいただきたい内容である。
Lino Saez博士のご冥福を心よりお祈りいたします。
Lino was born in Traiguen, Chile. He was thesecond youngest of eight brothers and the only one
to leave for a career outside of Chile. He came to theUnited States after being accepted for graduate workby the Einstein College of Medicine, where hestudied genes encoding human muscle myosins as a
graduate student with Leslie Leinwand. He planned
to do postdoctoral work focused on molecularmechanisms of learning and memor y in mice, butinstead became interested in new work being done in
the Young Lab at Rockefeller University that wasexploring the molecular basis of circadian rhythms
using mutants of Drosophila. He joined Rockefeller in
昨年10月24日、Lino Saez博士が永眠された。享1986.

年60歳であった。Saez博士は、時間生物学者としLino made beautiful and impor tant discoveriesてロックフェラー大学に30年間在籍され、研究室をspanning the full br eadth of his 30 years at主宰しているMichael Young教授のもとで、時計遺Rockefeller. His ﬁrst studies at Rockefeller identiﬁed

伝子の発見や時計振動体の分子機構の解明に、多大

developmental patterns of expression of the clock

な貢献をされた。Saez博士の死は、時間生物学にgene period. He later devised powerful techniques to

とって大きな損失で有り、悲しみに堪えない。今study Drosophila's circadian rhythms at the level of

回、Young教授のほか、無二の友人であるCedricsingle cells, and was the first to build pieces of aWesley博 士 に 追 悼 文 を 寄 稿 し て い た だ く と と もworking clock in naïve cultured cells to explore theirに、ご家族から当学会員の皆様にメッセージをいた

fundamental properties. His cell-based approach wasだいた。Young教授やWesley博士の文章からは、

extremely powerful and quickly adopted by others,これだけの偉業を達成するBig Labが如何にして成critically advancing research in a variety of animal

り立ってきたのか、Saez博士が研究室の屋台骨を

systems.

✉shimoda1@aﬀrc.go.jp
時間生物学─ 22 ─

Vo l . 21 , No . 1（ 2 0 1 5 ）Lino was regarded by all of his colleagues atshake the refrigerator where he kept racks uponRockefeller as the heart and soul of the Young Lab.

racks of microfuge tubes, Lino just laughed, Heh,He trained ever y technician, guided each newheh, heh, wouldnʼt you! On occasions when he did

student and helped every new postdoc get underway.

get upset with something or somebody, his lips

He was generous and kind, but always critical -tightened a bit and he lapsed silent. That was it. He

pushing so that the best would show through in his

never walked away from an issue and never remainedcolleagues.

upset for too long, let alone hold grudges. Lino was
the kind of person who made being in the lab fun,

The Rockefeller University, Michael W. Young

both scientifically and personally. And he wascharming. His quips and jokes in situations instantly, his hand gesturing me towards

dispelled gloom or discomfort and elicited laughter.

him, was how Lino responded to any technical or

It was the way he captured the moments with so few

conceptual issue I was pondering. The first time I

words, often delightfully mangled, and delivered

encountered this response was when my plasmid

them masterfully with that twinkle in his eyes or a

preparation did not yield a visible precipitate. He

disarming smile. Not a day passes by without

looked at my tube, asked me a few questions, andsomething or the other I do in the lab reminding me

wrote down the procedure for me on a post-it note.

of Lino. He was such a rare blend of humor, humility,

This note (shown on the right) was written in 1992

and science. Thanks Lino, for making the lab a betterand I used it just a few weeks ago! [The ﬁrst line inplace and science much more enjoyable.

Bring it here

the note is my handwriting; all others are his.] It isLinoʼs legacy in me that all my frequently used

University of Wisconsin, Cedric S. Wesley

protocols are on post-it notes. How else can one run
multiple procedures simultaneously on a small

In 2003, Lino was invited to the World Congress ofbench, which was what Lino did every day in the lab,

Chronobiology (WCC) at Hokkaido University, Japan.

in addition to helping everyone else around him. It

He came home full of smiles and good memories,

did not matter whether he was busy or having lunch.

with a gift of a Japanese calligraphy from Shoji Inami,

I have r uined many of his experiments bywhich he said symbolized The Dreamapproaching him without bothering to see if he wasremains hanging in our living room, as it embodied

free. Thatʼs how approachable he was. I do not

one aspect of Lino, who followed his big dreams toremember him ever getting upset. I also used to have

America, and created our family. Linoʼs favorite

heated arguments with him on matters ranging fromsaying was that for every problem, there is a solution.

science to politics to, on rare occasions, personal.

This was his scientiﬁc side coming out, grasping theWhile I used to get exasperated and ʻthreatenedʼ toreality of the problems he faced. These two apparent

時間生物学. ThisVo l . 21 , No . 1（ 2 0 1 5 ）─ 23 ─

conﬂicting ideals are the essence of Linoʼs life, bothを走り回ってくれた。やっとケーキ屋を見つける

personal and scientiﬁc. Dreaming of the big pictureと、彼は私の妻へのプレゼントだと言ってケーキをbut collecting and analyzing data to ﬁnd the solutions

渡してくれた。また、（恥ずかしい話だが）私が留to problems.

学中に彼から一番多くかけられた言葉は、「Hey,Lino never placed one aspect of his life over

Masami, Easy!」である。昼夜なく必死に実験してanother. He never brought the problems or eventsいる私（日本人）が、よほど滑稽だったのかも知れfrom the lab home. This allowed him to giveない。当時の自分には苦笑いを返すしか方法がな

everyone his full attention. Family life, both in Chile

かった。留学後しばらくして、最も大事な実験に成and the United States was equally as important to

功した時は、トップジャーナルに載る成果だと共に

him. He made sure everyone was being the best they

大喜びしてくれた。しかし、念のためと思い、後can be. This feeling was reflected back to him

日、実験データをチェックしたところ、実験過程に

through everyone he interacted with. Lino enjoyed

ミスを見つけ、Labの仲間を失望させてしまった。

life. He enjoyed the work, the food, the travels, the（Young研でさえ）そう簡単に新しい時計遺伝子をsports, the music, and life in general. Nothing comes

見つけられるはずもないのだが、チャレンジする

easy, and he faced the difﬁculties in order to be part

チャンスを与えられたことに、今も心から感謝して

of the world with a smile in his heart.

いる。

It didn't matter if you knew him for one minute or

私の帰国後、最初にLinoを日本に招聘したときにfor decades, you truly knew the person that he was.

は、私の妻の運転で富士山にドライブして温泉宿をEverything was better, easier, and more fun when he回った。その珍道中に３人で大笑いしたのを思い出

was there. Lino, was one of the most caring andす。彼が日本に来たときは、つくばの自宅アパート

compassionate people out there. He always wanted toの一室に、ありったけの布団を重ねて即席ベッドを

know about your life, make you laugh, and if heつくり寝てもらった。逆に私がニューヨークに行く

could, help you out in some way. No simply was not a

ときには、ホテルを取らず彼のアパートに泊めてもword in his vocabular y. He was ready for anything

らうのが常であった。Linoの２度目の来日には、妻and everything that came at him. He lived a full life,のMonica、 娘 のPaloma、 息 子 のDanielも 一 緒 にtraveled the world and saw his family grow.

やってきた。私の実家へ彼らを招待し、齢80近い私

Here are a few things that we have learned fromの父の手ほどきで、子供達に蕎麦打ちを体験しても

him: Give your hear t to your close ones andらった。手狭ではあるが、家族揃って農家（古民everything you do. Help where you can. There is a家）に宿泊してもらった。当時、私の妻は臨月で、

solution to ever y problem, you just have to find it.

妻が破水したときに一緒に家にいてくれたのがLino

Never give up. Laughter cures all. Family is aboveであった。手元には、生まれて数日後の私の長男を

ever ything else. Actions speak louder than words.

抱きかかえて笑っているLinoの写真が残っている。

Mind over matter. Don't let the little things keep you

友人とはいえ、何という偶然であったろうか。

down. Follow you dreams, and reach for the stars.

思い返せば、Linoとの時間は、楽しい思い出ばか

Anything is possible. We are honored that he will beりである。愉快だった。その彼がもうこの世にいな

remembered in this journal.

いことが、いまだに信じられない。自分が若い頃は想像できなかったことだが、年齢とともに仕事と責

Monica, Paloma and Daniel

任が増し、ここ数年は毎日のようにやってくるしめ切りに押しつぶされそうになるときがある。そんなYoung研に留学した当時、私はLinoからショウ

とき、彼の声がはっきり聞こえる。「ヘイ、マッ

ジョウバエ実験の手解きを受けた。それ以降、共同サーミ、イーズイー」

研究者そして友人として、彼との間には数多くの思なんべんも言うなって、わかってるよ、Lino。

い出がある。ある日、私は実験に没頭するあまり、妻の誕生日を忘れてしまった。Linoに、深夜まで開私と私の家族の人生を豊かなものにしてくれた
Lino Saezに心から感謝する。

いているケーキ屋はないかと相談すると、なんと彼は、ケーキ屋を探すため、夜中、一緒になって町中
時間生物学

─ 24 ─

Vo l . 21 , No . 1（ 2 0 1 5 ）

霜田政美・夕雨子

左から、Paloma, Lino, Monica, Daniel

時間生物学

つくばのアパートにてVo l . 21 , No . 1（ 2 0 1 5 ）─ 25 ─