LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Ito Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab develops technologies that use viral big data and AI to help control infectious diseases.
AboutAbout the lab
Creating infectious disease control technologies with viral data and AI
The Viral Informatics Group (Ito Lab) researches bioinformatics and AI technologies that contribute to controlling infectious diseases.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, large amounts of viral genetic information and experimental data have become available, and virology has entered the era of big data.
The lab is developing AI that predicts viral properties from genome sequences, as well as AI that searches for viruses in wild animals and livestock.
Beyond building new technologies, the lab also aims to generate new insights from large-scale data analysis using those technologies.
Key terms
- Bioinformatics
- A field that uses methods from information science to analyze large amounts of data, such as the genetic information of organisms
- Protein language model
- AI that learns the amino acid sequences of proteins as if they were text, and uses them to predict properties and design proteins
- RNA-Seq
- An analysis that comprehensively reads the RNA in cells or tissues, revealing patterns of gene expression
ResearchResearch themes
Viruses evolve rapidly through high mutation rates and change their properties, and some jump from animals to humans and cause new infectious diseases, which makes infectious disease control difficult. Using AI and bioinformatics, the lab works on predicting viral epidemics and evolution and on searching for viruses that could cause the next pandemic.
*Illustrative imageAI to predict viral epidemics and evolution
Using AI centered on protein language models, the lab predicts properties such as antigenicity, infectivity to cells, and the ability to spread in an epidemic (fitness) from viral genome sequences. Conversely, it is also developing technology to design viral proteins with specific properties, and is advancing applications to vaccine development and drug discovery.
*Illustrative imageAI to find the next pandemic virus
The lab is developing technology to comprehensively search for new viruses in the large amounts of RNA-Seq data accumulated in databases, and to estimate their properties and pandemic risk. Currently, it focuses in particular on technology that detects viral infection from the host's gene expression response and predicts the virus's properties.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Viral Informatics Group are faculty, project researchers, technical staff, secretaries, doctoral students, and student part-time workers.As of 2026
- ProfessorJumpei Ito
- Project Associate ProfessorJunna Kawasaki
- Project Assistant ProfessorArnon Plianchaisuk
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Ito Lab
Nakatani LabResearch Institute for Microbial Diseases, Bioinformatics CenterGenome data analysis, multi-omics analysis, and algorithm de…
Ikawa LabResearch Institute for Microbial Diseases, Bioinformatics CenterDevelopment of gene analysis tools through genome editing an…
Nakamura LabResearch Institute for Microbial Diseases, Bioinformatics CenterUnderstanding pathogens and infectious diseases through geno…
Standley LabResearch Institute for Microbial Diseases, Bioinformatics CenterAnalysis of TCR/BCR repertoires, protein–nucleic acid intera…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Potyvirus genome and virion” Jiri Sochor, Petr Babula, Vojtech Adam, Boris Krska, and Rene Kizek / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- AI to predict viral epidemics and evolution: “Protein language model for protein sequence generation” Checco Raggio / CC0 (cropped)
- AI to find the next pandemic virus: “RNA-seq (NIH BioArt 685)” NIH NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (生物情報解析分野 ゲノム進化医科学グループ 中谷研究室): “Medaka (Oryzias latipes) egg, day 0” Ethmostigmus / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (遺伝子機能解析分野 伊川研究室): “Overview of TALENs” Ogletreerd / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (感染症メタゲノム研究分野 中村研究室): “370A automated DNA sequencer” Giac83 / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (ゲノム情報解析分野 Standley研究室): “PDB 1scs EBI” Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute / Public domain (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.