LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Complex Living Matter Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A biophysics lab that explores what makes life lifelike through fluctuations and structure inside cells.
AboutAbout the lab
The lifelike character that arises from fluctuations and structure inside cells
The Complex Living Matter Lab experimentally investigates how and why the behavior and properties of living things differ from those of nonliving "matter."
The lab studies the properties that soft matter, such as the contents of cells, shows under nonequilibrium fluctuations generated by metabolism, aiming to get at the essence of life phenomena.
Using optical tweezers and AFM, the lab applies forces to single molecules and microparticles or manipulates their positions, creates artificial nonequilibrium environments in tiny spaces, and observes their behavior.
In the special research project (for new fourth-year students), students read papers together and then pursue their own topics, with the goal of presenting at the Kyushu Branch meeting of the Physical Society of Japan.
Key terms
- Soft matter
- Materials such as gels, colloids, and lipid membranes that are far softer than metals or semiconductors and have no fixed shape. They make up most of living organisms
- Nonequilibrium
- A state in which energy is constantly consumed and matter is constantly transported. The inside of a living cell is in this state
- Microrheology
- A method that determines the stiffness and viscosity of the surrounding material from the motion of tiny particles or from their response when a force is applied
NewsLab news
A study that found universality in active crowded systems of the intracellular environment was published in Cell Reports Physical Science
Joint research with the lab of Prof. Ikeda at the University of Tokyo was published in Nature Physics
A study showing the relationship between metabolism-driven fluidization of the cytoplasm and nonequilibrium fluctuations was published in Biophysical Journal
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies how living things differ from nonliving "matter" by looking at the nonequilibrium behavior that soft matter, such as the contents of cells, shows under metabolism. Targeting the interior of living cells and fluids extracted from cells, the lab uses original measurement techniques to measure stiffness, viscosity, and force generation.
*Illustrative imageRheology of Glasses and Jamming
Using microrheology, the lab showed that the abnormally large viscous loss in solids packed with soft particles, such as mayonnaise, is related to a vibrational mode characteristic of glasses (the boson peak). This is joint research with the lab of Prof. Ikeda at the University of Tokyo.
*Illustrative imageRheology Measurement Inside Living Cells
The lab measures the fluctuations of tiny particles introduced into living cells and their responses to force, in order to study the internal stiffness and viscosity and the forces that cells generate. Vigorous flows inside cells are compensated by feedback control so that the particle position can be tracked continuously.
*Illustrative imageCytoplasm as an Active Glass
The lab compared the stiffness and viscosity of living cells with those of cell extracts, from which the contents have been taken out. It concludes that motor proteins stir the interior and prevent it from solidifying due to crowding.
*Illustrative imageFluctuation Distributions Specific to Nonequilibrium Systems
Fluctuations that should follow a Gaussian distribution at equilibrium are sometimes observed to be non-Gaussian in nonequilibrium systems such as turbulence and the inside of cells. The lab analytically derived the distribution of fluctuations produced by randomly scattered sources, and is now testing it in real systems.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Complex Living Matter Lab are faculty and students at the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate levels.As of 2025
- ProfessorDaisuke Mizuno
- Associate ProfessorSongchuan Zhao
- Assistant ProfessorMinoru Kurisu
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 Complex Living Matter Lab
Fundamental Complex Matter LabFaculty of Science, Department of PhysicsComprehensive experimental, simulation, and theoretical stud…
Condensed Matter Theory LabFaculty of Science, Department of PhysicsTheoretical research using condensed matter theory and stati…
Solid-State Electronic Properties LabFaculty of Science, Department of PhysicsExperimental exploration of novel quantum physical phenomena…
Theoretical Physics of Particle Systems LabFaculty of Science, Department of PhysicsTheoretical research on particle systems physics (hadron phy…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: “Biophysics Lab ( )” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration / Public domain (cropped)
- Rheology of Glasses and Jamming: “Rheology machine” Kaisa Rongas / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Rheology Measurement Inside Living Cells: “Bryum capillare leaf cells” Des_Callaghan / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Cytoplasm as an Active Glass: “Bakers yeast cytoplasm-nucleus” Tgru001 / CC0 (cropped)
- Fluctuation Distributions Specific to Nonequilibrium Systems: “Csm Brownian-Motion f99de6516a” NivedRajeev / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Fundamental Complex Matter Lab): “Moscow State University granular material” Artyom Svetlov / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Condensed Matter Theory Lab): “Growing crystals in liquid glass” AgrisR / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Solid-State Electronic Properties Lab): “Eddy-currents in spinning disc” Silvanus Phillips Thompson / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Theoretical Physics of Particle Systems Lab): “Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)” ESA and the Planck Collaboration / CC BY 4.0 (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.