Shinya Inoué (1921-2019) (Cell)

The mitotic spindle is a huge molecular machine or, alternatively, an organizational state of cytoplasm, which forms transiently during mitosis to segregate chromosomes and position the cleavage furrow. We now know that it is built from microtubules whose polymerization dynamics shape the spindle and generate force to segregate chromosomes. Dynamic spindle fibers were discovered in the pre-molecular era of cell biology by Shinya Inoué, a pioneer of cell motility research and live cell microscopy who died in 2019.