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that the answer is no to the first question and yes to the second1, 2) (Figure 2).This paper was written more than thirty years ago, but it is still impressing, providing essential and thoughtful suggestions. The decline in the number of physician-scientists has already been reported in the 1970s in the States, and physi-cian-scientists were described as “endangered species”3). “Physician-scientists” are defined by Dr. Andrew I. Schafer as those with M.D. degrees who devote a substantive percent of their professional effort to research anywhere along the entire spec-trum of biomedical inquiry, ranging from basic science, through translational and patient-oriented research, to the evaluative sciences4).It is not the objective of the present article to discuss the future of physician-scientists. Since there is a significant gap in the social and medical backgrounds between Japan and other countries5), it does not seem easy to make a direct comparison. However, in Japan, like other countries, only a few people directly pursue basic research just after graduating from medical school. As it seems diffi-cult to recreate the “golden era” like it used to be, some innovations have attempted to find a new solution. One of them is an MD-PhD program, which started several decades ago in the States, and it has also begun at some universities in Japan. In private ones at present, Juntendo University and Keio University have only introduced it. This system may be the best for the present6), but the reason why there are few applicants is probably a heavy burden in many ways. It is interesting that Figure 2　Brooklyn Bridge in NY. Dr. Arias often compares it to the bridge between basic science and clinical medicine.Figure 3　From the left, the third; Dr. Nobuhiro Sato, the fourth; the author, the fifth; Dr. Irwin M. Arias, the sixth; Dr. Miyoko Hirose, the seventh; Dr. Lyuba Varticovski, the ninth; Dr. Toshihiko Namihisa, the tenth; Dr. Sumio WatanabeTsai JW, an MD-PhD course student, calls herself a “double agent,” stating, “My clinical and scientific lives were constantly dueling for my time”7). Recently, most students graduating from medical school directly go to the clinical field to become a physician. Following completing training as a resi-dent, a limited number of them are given time for research as graduate students for a certain period, and will continue to challenge the triple threat as physician-scientists in academia. Alternatively, there is a unique system in Japan to get “PhD” in a clinical department without going to graduate school. Regardless of its pros and cons, an MD who obtained “PhD” in this way will spend the rest of their lives as clinicians, hopefully keeping scientific mind (what is called "research mind" in Japan).Just when I returned to Tokyo in 1990, Dr. Nobuhiro Sato became a new Professor and Chairman of Department of Gastroenterology. He is an outstanding physician-scientist in mitochondrial research and is presently active as the Director of the Gerontology Research Center, as well as a dean of Juntendo University. He suggested to me that I continue biomedical research on cellular prolifera-tion, differentiation, and cell death. I was lucky to work with Ms. Miyoko Hirose, who was a research assistant, later a PhD (Figure 3). It was very sad that she unfortunately had passed young. Without her help I could not have continued the experi-ments. At that time, it was rare for a PhD to work as a faculty in clinical department, but Dr. Sato made it possible. A lot of foreign students came to our laboratory to work with him, and largely 439