Japanese Immunologist and Playwright Dies at 76

Dr. Tomio Tada, who died last month was famous in not just one but two careers. He made a name for himself by first finding the causes for diseases and second for writing traditional Japanese plays.

Dr. Tada first became famous in the 1970s due to a series of experiments that showed that our bodies possess specialized white blood cells that stop our immune systems from attacking the body and its internal organs.

His theory was that when these blood cells worked properly they stopped the body¡¯s immune system from attacking harmless substances, such as pollen breathed into the body, but when they failed to work the body¡¯s immune system would instead attack these harmless substances, leading to allergies and other disorders. These special cells were nicknamed ¡®suppressor T cells¡¯ because they suppressed the immune system.

Dr. Tada¡¯s theory started a race amongst scientists to find these mysterious T cells, but when nobody was successful in locating them many people said Dr. Tada¡¯s theory was false. Nevertheless he stuck by his idea and in the 1990s another Japanese scientist discovered ¡®regulatory T cells¡¯, which although were not identical to the suppressor cells Dr. Tada had talked of, they were very similar. This proved that Dr. Tada was in fact right all along and his theory became very influential in the field of immunology.

Yet towards the end of his scientific career Dr. Tada took a change of direction and started writing Japanese Noh plays. These plays involve the actors wearing masks and blend the spirit and the real world. They are very rare as most of the plays were written over 400 years ago. Many of his plays were in fact based on medical and scientific subjects such as heart transplants and Einstein¡¯s theory of relativity, but always included supernatural elements.

Dr. Tada felt that scientific research and writing were in fact very much alike. ¡°When I¡¯m doing my research in immunology, it¡¯s like playing a drama. There¡¯s no difference. When I write a scientific paper, I write as if it is the expression of my philosophy¡±, he said.

Dr. Tada died in Tokyo, Japan. Though he is gone his influence on Japanese theatre and medicine all over the world will not be forgotten.