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Nakamura Lab
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The lab uses biophysics to explore, through physics, how bacteria move.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring how microorganisms move, through physics
The Nakamura Lab studies how microorganisms such as bacteria move in tiny fluid environments dominated by viscosity and thermal fluctuations.
Its main subject is the flagellum, a rotary molecular motor 45 nanometers in diameter that drives bacterial movement.
Using high-precision imaging and optical tweezers, among other techniques, the lab investigates microscale energy conversion, synchronization phenomena, and the mechanical properties of cells.
The lab also studies infection by pathogenic bacteria using AI-based image analysis.
Key terms
- Flagellum
- A rotary molecular motor 45 nanometers in diameter that drives bacterial movement
- Low Reynolds number regime
- A tiny fluid environment dominated by viscosity and thermal fluctuations
- Optical tweezers
- A technique that traps tiny objects, as if pinching them, with a focused infrared laser
- Background subtraction
- An image analysis technique that separates a moving foreground from a static background
NewsLab news
Results of a collaborative study were published in Communications Biology
Results of a collaborative study were selected for the cover of The EMBO Journal
An undergraduate student received a Best Presentation Award at the graduation thesis presentation
ResearchResearch themes
The lab investigates the physical principles by which microorganisms such as bacteria move efficiently in tiny fluid environments dominated by viscosity and thermal fluctuations. Taking the flagellar motor as its subject, the lab measures biological phenomena using imaging, optical tweezers, and AI-based image analysis.
*Illustrative imageEnergy conversion in biomolecular motors
Taking the bacterial flagellum, a rotary molecular motor, as its subject, the lab investigates the mechanism of microscale energy conversion through high-precision imaging. It aims to extend the findings to the design of micromachines and the development of drug delivery systems.
*Illustrative imageSynchronization in the low Reynolds number regime
The lab focuses on hydrodynamic synchronization seen in the movement of microorganisms and of cilia. It has shown that the flagella of bacteria in close proximity intermittently synchronize in phase, which agreed well with a hydrodynamic model.
*Illustrative imageMeasurement and control with optical tweezers
The lab applies local hydrodynamic forces to biological samples held by optical tweezers and analyzes their response. This reveals the mechanical strength and microscopic physical properties of cells and biomaterials, and also allows the swimming force and cell stiffness of a single bacterial cell to be evaluated.
*Illustrative imageInfection research with AI image analysis
Using image analysis such as background subtraction, the lab detects pathogenic bacteria that have infected cultured cells without labeling. By connecting data science and life science, it aims to build technology that serves as a foundation for elucidating infection mechanisms, rapid diagnosis, and drug discovery support.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Nakamura Lab are faculty members, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and visiting researchers.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorShuichi Nakamura
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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: “Bacillus bacteria growth under the microscope 3” Korinna / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Energy conversion in biomolecular motors: “TMEM171 Structure Model” Bauma319 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Synchronization in the low Reynolds number regime: “Fluid Christmas Tree” Bavand Keshavarz / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Measurement and control with optical tweezers: “Mirror and Lens setup for laser tweezers” Thctamm / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Infection research with AI image analysis: “Bacteria growth under the microscope 03” Korinna / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Advanced Energy Systems (Nakamura) Lab): “Single wind turbine blade at Little Cheyne Court (Kent) - geograph.org.uk - 904241” john dodgson / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Neuroelectronic Biomedical Engineering [Watanabe] Lab): “EXO-Robot gait trainer at Palon ReWalk” Shefali.assam / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Medical Imaging Lab): “Pancreas ultrasound doppler” Ptrump16 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takeuchi Lab): “Hero-64-pixel-array-superconducting-nanowire-single-photon-detector-b” NASA/JPL-Caltech; Text by Dr. Warren Holmes / Public domain (cropped)
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