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Frith Lab
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The lab uses computers to read the traces of evolution left in genetic sequences.
AboutAbout the lab
Traces of life and evolution left in genetic sequences
The Frith Lab uses computers to study genetic sequences.
Sequences retain traces of the recipe of life and the history of evolution.
The lab finds interesting and useful information in them, and develops the algorithms and mathematical methods needed to do so.
It does not specialize in black-box methods such as deep learning, and aims for understanding rather than prediction.
Key terms
- Algorithm
- A set of steps or computational rules used to have a computer carry out a process
- Transposable element
- A fragment of DNA that can move around within the genome. Also called a transposon
- Repeat sequence
- A region where the same DNA sequence is repeated many times. Its length can expand or contract
NewsLab news
A master's student received the Osamu Gotoh Award at IIBMP
A lab member won a prize in the IIBMP English presentation contest
Paper on EvoSubster, which estimates the evolution of base substitutions, published
Paper on a method for exhaustively finding similar sequences published
A student received an Outstanding Presentation Award at a research meeting of the Information Processing Society of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to find interesting and useful information within genetic sequences. It develops its own algorithms and mathematical methods for this purpose, and uses them to read the history of evolution and the causes of disease from sequences.
*Illustrative imageDNA that regulates development
The lab found DNA regions that have been conserved since the time of the common ancestor of many animals. These regions regulate the activity of genes involved in embryonic development.
*Illustrative image"Protein fossils"
Using probability-based analysis, the lab finds remnants of DNA that once made proteins. It revealed that the ancestors of vertebrates had diverse transposable elements.
*Illustrative image"Virus fossils"
The lab searches for remnants of viral DNA that entered host genomes. It found the oldest "virus fossil" discovered so far.
*Illustrative imageSequence changes linked to disease
In collaboration with medical geneticists, the lab studies complex chromosomal rearrangements and the expansion and contraction of repeat sequences. It also identified the cause of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Frith Lab consist of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, PhD, master's, and undergraduate students, students on short-term stays from overseas, and administrative assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorMartin Frith
- Assistant ProfessorJunichi Iwakiri
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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: “DNA double helix 45” Jerome Walker,Dennis Myts / Public domain (cropped)
- DNA that regulates development: “Embryo of Zebrafish” Marco Boschin / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- "Protein fossils": “Trilobites (Austerops speculator), Jebel Oufatene, Marruecos, , DD 137-195 FS” Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- "Virus fossils": “Scanning electron micrograph of a human H9 T cell infected with HIV virus particles” NIAID / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Sequence changes linked to disease: “Human karyotype (248 26) Karyotype Human, green filter” Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc. / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kasahara Lab): “MinION portable sequencer” Mongan A.E. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kiryu Lab): “RNA structure (2)” Thomas Shafee / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takigawa Lab): “Docking representation 2” Scigenis / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Katoh Lab): “Tree of life by Haeckel” Ernst Haeckel / Public domain (cropped)
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