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Applied Biological Chemistry Lab
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A lab that learns from microorganisms to produce natural products that can become the basis of drugs.
AboutAbout the lab
Learning from microorganisms to make things
The Applied Biological Chemistry Lab conducts wide-ranging research from basic to applied, aiming to make useful products using microorganisms.
It discovers new enzyme catalysts and biosynthetic pathways in microorganisms and clarifies how they work at the level of genes, enzymes, and reactions.
It also works on producing useful natural products by fermentation, using biosynthetic engineering that combines the enzymes it has found.
Focusing on the fact that metabolic pathways differ between beneficial and harmful microorganisms, the lab also searches for antibacterial agents that act only on pathogens.
Key terms
- Biosynthesis
- The process by which living organisms produce needed compounds in the body by operating enzymes in sequence.
- Enzyme
- A protein made by living organisms that selectively speeds up only specific chemical reactions.
- Metabolic pathway
- A fixed route along which a substance is converted one after another into other substances by the action of enzymes.
NewsLab news
A paper analyzing the carbon-chain elongation reaction of DHA synthase was published in PNAS
A paper on a cyclopropane-forming enzyme, from joint research with a US university, was published in JACS
A paper clarifying the complete biosynthetic reaction of lactacystin was published
A paper identifying new analogs of oligomycin was published
A paper on high-yield bioproduction of tyrosol was published
ResearchResearch themes
The lab clarifies how microbial enzymes and biosynthetic pathways work and applies that knowledge to making useful compounds. It is also searching for leads to new antibiotics that suppress only pathogenic bacteria.
*Illustrative imageDrug discovery through biosynthetic engineering
Instead of modifying compounds that can become the basis of drugs by organic synthesis, the lab aims to modify them with enzyme catalysts. It searches genome databases for the blueprints of desirable enzymes and prepares them in large quantities by genetic engineering for use in production.
*Illustrative imageToward antibiotics that act only on pathogens
The lab focuses not on differences between humans and microorganisms but on differences in metabolic pathways between beneficial and harmful microorganisms. If pathways found only in harmful microorganisms can be suppressed, it could lead to drugs that do not harm lactic acid bacteria.
*Illustrative imageSearching for new biosynthetic pathways and enzymes
Using genome information as a clue, the lab searches for unknown biosynthetic pathways and enzyme catalysts in microorganisms. It analyzes what it finds in detail, aiming to add new discoveries to enzyme chemistry.
*Illustrative imageAnalyzing enzyme reaction mechanisms
From an organic chemistry perspective, the lab clarifies at the level of genes, enzymes, and reaction mechanisms how microorganisms accurately build the molecular structures of complex natural products.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Applied Biological Chemistry Lab are faculty and students at the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate levels.As of 2026
- ProfessorYasushi Ogasawara
- Assistant ProfessorYasuharu Satoh
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: “Streptomyces griseus on chocolate agar (Espinoza 2022)” Carlos Espinoza, Pedro Morales, Brenda Perez, Alvaro Hu / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Drug discovery through biosynthetic engineering: “Il Penicillium in piastra” Milo Manica / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Toward antibiotics that act only on pathogens: “Helicobacter pylori, Gastric Mucosa, H&E ( )” Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Searching for new biosynthetic pathways and enzymes: “Agarose gel electrophoresis in UV light” YTEDG72.k / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Analyzing enzyme reaction mechanisms: “Pyruvate kinase protein domains” Thomas Splettstoesser (www.scistyle.com) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biomolecular Chemistry Lab): “Microbial cellulose pellicle” User:Lightenoughtotravel / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Biosynthetic Chemistry Lab): “BiodegradablePlasticUtensils1” Scott Bauer / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Reactive Organic Chemistry Lab): “Acetylacetone-keto-tautomer-from-xtal-Mercury-3D-balls” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Chemical Systems Engineering Lab): “Wind power plants in Xinjiang, China” 林 慕尧 / Chris Lim from East Coast (东海岸), Singapore (新加坡) / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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