John Edward Casida (December 22, 1929 – June 30, 2018) was an American entomologist, toxicologist and professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Birth and education

Casida was born in 1929 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He completed his BS from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

in 1951. He completed his MS in 1951 and PhD in 1954 from the same university.

Research

Casida is known for his research on the

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...

and mode of action of most major insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, and their synergists. This research included the discovery that ryanoid and cyclodiene insecticides disrupt the calcium and GABA channels, which has opened up research directed towards identifying new compounds that interact with GABA receptors. Additional areas of study include research on the synthesis, metabolism, toxicokinetics and mechanisms of toxicity of the organophosphates,

pyrethroids A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums (''Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium'' and '' C. coccineum''). Pyrethroids are used as commercial and household insecticides. In ...

and

neonicotinoids Neonicotinoids (sometimes shortened to neonics ) are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine, developed by scientists at Shell and Bayer in the 1980s. The neonicotinoid family includes acetamiprid, clothianidin, din ...

. In addition, he is described as being a "Highly Cited" researcher by ISI Web of Knowledge, and currently has in excess of 850 scientific publications. He synthesized compounds more active and less persistent than insecticides then used in agricultural practice and his contributions have provided a rational basis for the evaluation of the risks and benefits of pesticides and toxicants. He was elected to the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1991 and to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(UK) in 1998. In 1993, he was awarded the

Wolf Prize in Agriculture The Wolf Prize in Agriculture is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics and the Arts. ...

"for his pioneering studies on the mode of action of insecticides, design of safer pesticides and contributions to the understanding of nerve and muscle function in insects".The Wolf Prize in Agriculture
/ref> Additional honors include receiving the Founders Award from the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (1994) and the Koro-Sho Prize from the Pesticide Science Society of Japan (1995). He was the William Muriece Hoskins Chair in Chemical and Molecular Entomology at the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casida, John Edward 1929 births 2018 deaths University of California, Berkeley College of Natural Resources faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates