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Yoshida Lab
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A lab that explores the mechanisms of life with gels that move on their own, like a beating heart.
AboutAbout the lab
The challenge of bio beyond bio
The Yoshida Lab studies materials that use polymer gels to artificially recreate the functions of living things.
The lab believes that cells and gels have very similar physicochemical properties, and that gels can be used to create materials with cell-like functions such as motion and mass transport.
Centered on "self-oscillating gels" that beat on their own like a heart, the lab approaches the question "What is life?" from the perspective of materials science.
Key terms
- Polymer gel
- A soft material in which long, chain-like molecules (polymers) form a network that swells by absorbing water or other liquids
- Self-oscillating gel
- A gel that repeatedly swells and shrinks on its own under certain conditions, without the external stimulus being switched
- BZ reaction
- A chemical reaction in which the oxidized and reduced states of a substance alternate periodically
NewsLab news
Assistant Professor Enomoto receives the Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science from the Society of Polymer Science, Japan
Paper on the propagation of dynamic behavior in self-oscillating materials published in Langmuir
Paper on design guidelines for synthetic polymers that exhibit coacervation published
Master's student wins an Excellent Poster Award at the Symposium on Macromolecules
ResearchResearch themes
Using polymer gels, the lab artificially designs and builds materials and systems that take living things as models and that take over or mimic their functions. By harnessing the rhythm of a chemical reaction (the BZ reaction), the lab has realized "self-oscillating gels," which beat on their own like a heart, and continues to expand this research.
*Illustrative imageSelf-Oscillating Gels That Move on Their Own
These are gels that repeatedly swell and shrink on their own under certain conditions, without the stimulus being switched. Expanding this research, the lab is creating self-walking gels and materials that serve as artificial intestines, cilia, and cells.
*Illustrative imageDesigning Gel Surfaces
This research controls the structure and properties of gel surfaces as desired to create gels with new functions. By gaining a deeper understanding of the interface where gels and cells meet, the lab aims to develop materials for growing cells, among other applications.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Yoshida Lab consist of faculty members, secretaries, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- ProfessorRyo YoshidaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorTakafumi EnomotoPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Self-Oscillating Gels That Move on Their Own: “Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction ( )” Stephen Morris from Toronto, Canada / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Designing Gel Surfaces: “Gelatine” Danielle dk / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (片島・鄭研究室): “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (溝口研究室(Nano Materials Design Lab.)): “Aluminium Atomic lattice” Matheustunes / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (渡邉研究室): “Scanning Tunneling Microscope Structure ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (宮田研究室): “Nanoparticles in Brain Metastases ( )” NIH Image Gallery from Bethesda, Maryland, USA / Public domain (cropped)
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