Itano, Harvey A.

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American biochemist.

From the description of Papers, 1947-2004. (University of California, San Diego). WorldCat record id: 56451518

Biography

Harvey Akio Itano was born on November 3, 1920, in Sacramento, California, the eldest son of Masao and Sumako (Nakahara) Itano. Itano attended University of California, Berkeley, and graduated in 1942 with highest honors in chemistry. Due to President Roosevelt's anti-Japanese campaign following Pearl Harbor, Itano with his family was sent to the desolate Tule Lake camp. While in the camp, Itano kept applying to medical schools throughout the country. With assistance from the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council, Itano was released from the camp to attend St. Louis School of Medicine. In 1945, Itano received his M.D. and continued Ph.D. studies at the California Institute of Technology in biochemistry where he studied and worked with Linus Pauling.

Itano is known for his pioneering work with sickle cell anemia disease, the topic assigned to him as a Ph.D. thesis topic by Linus Pauling. Sickle cell anemia disease is a hereditary disease commonly found among people of African descent. Itano tried several different physical and chemical methods to distinguish normal hemoglobin from sickle cell hemoglobin and finally he was able to demonstrate the difference by using electrophoresis. At that time, electrophoresis was a new technique that allowed researchers to separate molecules according to their electrical charge and Itano found a slight difference in electrophoretic mobility between normal and sickle cell hemoglobins. That led to understanding that patients with sickle cell anemia have a different type of hemoglobin than healthy individuals and thus a cause of a disease was traced to a molecule. Later, this inspired Vernon Ingram's seminal discovery of a single amino acid difference between normal and sickle cell hemoglobin and allowed him to explain a hemoglobin abnormality by an alteration in genes. After completing the project, Itano continued to work in the field of molecular medicine and published extensively about genetic and molecular basis of other blood pathologies and hereditary diseases.

Itano was awarded Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1954) and Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Achievement Award (1972) for his pioneering work on sickle cell anemia disease. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1979), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1998), American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry Society (London), Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and Alpha Omega Alpha.

Itano is professor emeritus in the Department of Pathology at UCSD and resides in La Jolla, California.

From the guide to the Harvey Itano Papers, 1946 - 2000, (University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn William B. Provine collection of evolutionary biology reprints, 20th century. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
referencedIn Salvador E. Luria Papers, 1923-1992 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Haurowitz, Felix, 1896-1987. Mss., 1920-1985 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
creatorOf Harvey Itano Papers, 1946 - 2000 University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
creatorOf Itano, Harvey A. Papers, 1947-2004. University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library
referencedIn Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, 1910-1994 (bulk 1922-1991) Oregon State University SpecialCollections & Archives Research Center, The ValleyLibrary
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
correspondedWith Haurowitz, Felix, 1896-1987 person
associatedWith Luria, S. E., (Salvador Edward), 1912-1991 person
associatedWith Pauling, Ava Helen person
associatedWith Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994, person
associatedWith Pauling, Linus Carl, 1901- person
correspondedWith Provine, William B. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Biochemistry
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1920-11-03

Death 2010-05-08

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