Susumu Tonegawa: key obituary facts
Is Susumu Tonegawa dead? Yes. Susumu Tonegawa died on July 11, 2026, at age 86.
Cause of death: Susumu Tonegawa's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Susumu Tonegawa known for?
He was a Japanese biologist, neuroscientist (1939 - ).
More about Susumu Tonegawa
Born: 6 September 1939.
Place of birth: Nagoya.
Gender: male.
Occupation: molecular biologist, immunologist, neuroscientist, professor, scientist, physician, chemist, geneticist.
Nationality: Japan.
Employer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Basel Institute for Immunology, RIKEN.
Awards: Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, Canada Gairdner International Award, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Order of Culture, German Immunology Prize, EMBO Membership, Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize.
Also known as: S. Tonegawa, S Tonegawa, Tonegawa, Tonegawa S, Tonegawa S.
Known for: Antibody diversityE-boxV(D)J recombination.
Susumu Tonegawa, the Japanese biologist who won the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering V(D)J recombination, died on July 11, 2026.
Born in Nagoya on September 5, 1939, he built his career across molecular biology, immunology and neuroscience, becoming the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for work that explained how antibody diversity is generated. After training in molecular biology, Tonegawa shifted fields again after his Nobel recognition and later studied the molecular, cellular and neuronal basis of memory formation and retrieval.
His scientific work took him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Basel Institute for Immunology and RIKEN.