偉大な糖鎖生物学者であり、素晴らしき教育指導者、編集企画者でもあつたHans-Joachim Gabius先生（Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich）が2021年8月2日突然この世を去りました（享年66歳）。Gabius先生とは本シリーズのテーマであるガレクチンのまさに黎明期よりのお付き合いであり、海を超えて多くの共同作業をさせていただきました。そして、多くの編集や国際学会でご一緒させていただき、ガレクチンに関する議論はもとより、糖鎖暗号に関する意見を交換し合う「同士」でもありました。今回、参画してもらったこのフォーラム企画にも、当初より積極的に賛同され、ガレクチンの進化と分子機能に関する最新の知見と博士独自の深い洞察を、「ガレクチン：ガ（ラクトース結合）レクチンを超えた多彩な機能」の寄稿を通し、披露していただきました。その透徹した知見に新たに触発されました。是非、続編をお願いしようと思っていた矢先の訃報には、思わず声を失ってしまいました。何よりも、悲しみに、今も深い喪失感に襲われています。
このフォーラムメンバーで哀悼の意をお伝えすることが、少しでもご遺族の哀しみを和らげることができたらと思うばかりです。どうか安らかにお眠りください。
ガレクチンシリーズを代表して
編集者：平林淳（東海国立大学機構名古屋大学、糖鎖生命コア研究所）、 佐藤祥子（Laval University School of Medicine, CHU de Quebec Research Center）
Hans was a postdoc in my lab at UCSD in the mid-1980s where he became interested in several galectins my lab had discovered. I remained in touch with him over the years and was greatly impressed by his many stimulating contributions to our understanding of protein-glycoconjugate interactions. His untimely passing is a great loss us all.
Samuel Barondes
Hans-Joachim Gabius was an insightful pioneer of galectin research and will be missed by the many collaborators that he engaged with and enjoyed over the years.
James Dennis, Fred Brewer, Michael Demetriou
Hans was a one of the very few scientists whose thoughtful scientific and even philosophical views I could realize and share. It is too sad that I can no longer discuss the content of various matters with him, including evolution of galectins and many other intriguing themes.
Jun Hirabayashi
Research from Hans-Joachim Gabius has strongly inspired the galectin community. I was impressed by his exceptional personality and stimulating presentations. I express my sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
Ralf Jacob
I am sad that we will not have the opportunity to receive his inspiring views and concepts on the function of glycans again.
Kenich Kasai
Hans will be much missed. I met him first time in Sam Barondes lab around 1985, and since then we have followed similar scientific paths, in particular on galectins. I will miss Hans lively and inspirational ideas, and highly respect his energetic custody of glycoscience.
Hakon Leffler
Hans-Joachim Gabius has strongly impacted the research community on galectins. It was quite impressive to have met him at the 2016 EMBO Galectins meeting, which I won’t ever forget. My sincere sympathy to his family, friends and lab members.
Ludger Johannes
Hans Gabius and I obtained grants from Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst and USA/National Science Foundation, respectively, to collaborate on the topic “Lectin (Galectin)-Ligand (Carbohydrate/Peptide) Interaction”. Hans visited us in March 2001, together with his colleague Herbert Kaltner, and I, along with my colleague Daniel Hsu, visited his group in Munich in March 2004. I have fond memories of the mutual visits. The collaboration proved to be productive, we published 15 scientific papers together, many as a three-way collaboration with the group of Professor Karel Smetana at Charles University in Czech Republic. We met at various international conferences, including the 21st InterLec (Shonan, Japan) in 2004, and EMBO Workshop on galectins (Nice, France) in 2016. I have always been impressed with his enthusiasm for science and vast scientific knowledge, which were also reflected in the lectures he delivered in his unique unconventional style. Hans was a leading investigator in the field of animal lectins and plant lectins and has also greatly contributed to the subject of lectin-carbohydrate interactions with his expertise in biophysics. His passing is a tremendous loss for the field of glycobiology.
Fu-Tong Liu
Prof. Hans-J Gabius was undoubtedly a pioneer in demonstrating the importance of the "sugar code" and lectins as decoders of this biological information and a great influence for a generation of young lectin researchers. As a personal note, I remember very well the great time I had with him and his close collaborators when he invited me to visit his lab in Munchen (2002) and also when we met at the Interlect Meeting (2003) in Shonan Village, Japan.
Gabriel A. Rabinovich
Dr. Hans-Joachim Gabius injected inspiring ideas into the area of galectins and field of glycobiology. I will forever remember his shining eyes, which were filled with curiosity and excitement. May he rest in peace.
Sachiko Sato
