“An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body!” 

Toshihiko Ogura, MD, PhD 

Field: Developmental Neurobiology
Hometown: Hometown: Koriyama & Fukushima
Hobbies: Photography, reading, dog walking, classical music (piano), and aquatic plants.

Active hands keep your brain sharp! I conduct experiments everyday! …and I’m definitely better at it than my students!

We should all try to be more active! Why not pressure yourself to fully complete a task (like write a document) in the 15 minute interval between centrifuge cycles? It can actually be quite thrilling because you are working against the clock, making you more efficient. Those of you who are active, I’m sure you’ve realized that you can think much faster too.

However, as years go by, it’s natural that health conditions begin to stack-up against you… and I’m starting to feel it. As soon as I get home, exhaustion kicks-in. After dinner, I play with my dog (or vice-versa), drink a night cap and drop flat on my cushion. It’s like this for me everyday nowadays…

So, to all you youngsters: MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL! Hunt for new discoveries! …glowing proteins of jellyfish! GFP as a tagging tool! …inventing PCR to duplicate DNA by polymerase of ‘onsen’ bacteria! …whatever! Let’s try out something new! Who knows, a Nobel Prize might be just around the corner!

So, it doesn’t matter if the results are senseless; what’s important is that you enjoyed the science! …just do it and just enjoy science!