Shimon Sakaguchi, a Japanese scientist who on Monday won this year¡¯s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of cells that restrain the body¡¯s immune response, was once considered ¡°dodgy¡± and even ¡°dangerous¡± in the field of immunology.
An unwavering conviction in the validity of his research, however, paid off for the Shiga Prefecture native, who sees potential for a wide range of treatments using the discovery of T cells called regulatory T cells.
Sakaguchi, 74, who comes from a long-running family of doctors, originally planned to become a psychiatrist. But he became drawn into immunology while studying medicine at Kyoto University.
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