Reiji Okazaki

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Reiji Okazaki (岡崎令治 Okazaki Reiji, 1930 – 1975) was a Japanese molecular biologist known for his research in DNA replication and especially for describing the role of so-called Okazaki fragments which he discovered working with his wife Tsuneko Okazaki in 1968.

Reiji Okazaki was born in Hiroshima, Japan. He graduated in 1953 from Nagoya University, and worked as a professor there after 1963.

Okazaki died of leukemia only a few years after his discovery. He was exposed to heavy radiation when he was in Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb was dropped.