LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Food Function Science Endowed Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab explores the nutritional value, taste, and body-regulating functions of food at the molecular level.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering the power of food at the molecular level
The Food Function Science Endowed Lab studies "food function science," which analyzes the nutrition, taste, and body-regulating functions of food together.
Aiming to improve quality of life and well-being, the lab seeks to clarify the primary, secondary, and tertiary functions of food at the molecular level.
Using model organisms and other systems, the lab aims to reveal the power of food through analyses based on molecular biology and biochemistry.
The lab was established as an endowed chair funded by a donation from the Toyo Food Research Institute, and it actively pursues joint research with companies.
Key terms
- Primary, secondary, and tertiary functions of food
- A way of dividing the functions of food into three: nutrition (primary), taste and aroma (secondary), and body-regulating functions (tertiary).
- Mibyo (pre-disease state)
- A state that cannot be called a disease but is not clearly healthy either; the stage just before becoming ill.
- Omics analysis
- A method of comprehensively measuring and examining genes, proteins, and other molecules in the body all at once.
NewsLab news
The Food Function Science Endowed Lab was established with a donation from the Toyo Food Research Institute
Results of joint research were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution
Results of joint research were published in Nutraceuticals
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to clarify the primary, secondary, and tertiary functions of food at the molecular level. Using omics analysis and other methods, it studies food components related to mibyo (the pre-disease state) and the central sensory processing of eating.
*Illustrative imageNutrients and Food Components Related to Mibyo (the Pre-Disease State)
The lab searches for nutrients and food components involved in the mibyo state, and investigates how they act on the body using omics analysis and other methods.
*Illustrative imageGlobal Challenges Related to Homeostasis
This research works toward solving global challenges that are directly tied to the mechanisms that maintain health (homeostasis). The lab analyzes them using model organisms and other systems.
*Illustrative imageData Science of Central Sensation in Eating
This research aims to elucidate the central sensory processing involved in eating by incorporating data science methods.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Food Function Science Endowed Lab consist of faculty, project researchers, academic specialist staff, and master's students.As of 2026
- Project Associate ProfessorAsuka KameiPublications ↗
- Project Associate Professor (Concurrent)Takumi MisakaPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Food Function Science Endowed Lab
Biological Function Development Chemistry LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyTaste substance reception mechanisms, taste preference, and …
Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyPlant response mechanisms to nutrients and toxic substances
Applied Microbiology LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyBiochemical and genetic elucidation of the diverse metabolic…
Nutritional Chemistry LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyBrain nutrition research focusing on the brain, nutrition, a…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: “DNA microarray chip” ErikAbner / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Nutrients and Food Components Related to Mibyo (the Pre-Disease State): “Carbon Catabolism” Mplanine / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Global Challenges Related to Homeostasis: “Varbuss” Heiti Paves / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Data Science of Central Sensation in Eating: “Brodawka językowa okolona” Hannajackowiak / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (生物機能開発化学研究室): “Blue tongue” Sensonet / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (植物栄養・肥料学研究室): “Roots of a hydroponically-grown plant” Banana patrol / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (応用微生物学研究室): “Colonie batteriche o vita marina?” Chiara.marraccini / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (栄養化学研究室): “Cultured Rat Hippocampal Neuron ( )” ZEISS Microscopy from Germany / CC BY 2.0 (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.