Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center DNA-packaging expert Toshio Tsukiyama, PhD, DVM, was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology class of 2024. Members undergo a peer-reviewed election process to join the honorific leadership group within the American Society of Microbiology. Membership recognizes scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.
A longtime member of Fred Hutch’s Basic Sciences Division, Tsukiyama uses yeast to study chromatin, the complex of DNA and DNA-packaging proteins that allow minuscule cells to cram meters of DNA inside. Our understanding of chromatin has undergone a sea change over the course of Tsukiyama’s career, from inert cellular “brick” to dynamic complex governed by carefully regulated chromatin modulators. Mutations in the factors that regulate chromatin have been linked to diseases like cancer.
