1. Introduction
In March 1993, “If you are interested in radiation-induced mutations on humans, you must meet Jack Schull!” said James Crow1in our casual conversation at the National Institute of Genetics (NIG) in Mishima, Japan. This was the first time I encountered the name William Jackson Schull. I was conducting my Ph.D. dissertation on the Nearly Neutral theory of molecular evolution developed by Dr. Tomoko Ohta (NIG) and learning about her biographical background (1). I spent a year at NIG, from August 1992 to August 1993. Mutation mechanisms and the generational effects of radiation have been among my lifetime interests as someone who grew up in Nagasaki as a second-generation atomic bomb survivor. I also met survivors as patients when I practiced as a pharmacist at a local general hospital in Nagasaki.
William Jackson Schull (17 March 1922−20 June 2017) was a geneticist who contributed his life’s work to studies of the biological effects of ionizing radiation on human cohorts. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on the genetic inheritance of specific characters and mutations (2). In his interview with me, Schull said his choice to take the lead at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) in Hiroshima and Nagasaki rather than taking a professorship at McGill University changed the course of his life completely. While an internationally recognized research scientist, his kind and personable nature allowed him to develop close friendships with Japanese people he met in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Later in his life, he wrote a personal account of the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Song Among the Ruins (3). This book shows his affinity toward people in those towns. He often told me that he spent more time in Japan than in the US and considered Japan his second home.
Schull was also very active in establishing human genetics research infrastructure in the US. He was one of the founding members of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan. He was also the founding director of the Center for Demographic and Population Genetics (CDPG) at the University of Texas at Houston. His overall scientific contributions, in addition to studies on the effects of ionizing radiation on human health, were the role of heredity and the interaction of heredity and environment in the etiology of chronic disease, the effects of inbreeding in human populations, the mechanisms of adaptations to hypoxic conditions, and the genetic epidemiology of populations burdened by chronic diseases associated with low socio-economic status. He was also an excellent mentor to many young researchers. Schull was a prolific author and scientist, publishing 425 academic papers and 15 books. However, from my observation over the last 30 years, his work centered on mutation studies in human cohorts under ionizing radiation. When the Fukushima nuclear accident was reported, he immediately contacted me and asked if he could help those people.