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Nonequilibrium Physics of Life Lab
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An experimental lab that uses physics to unravel the nonequilibrium behavior of living systems.
AboutAbout the lab
Describing the properties of life in the language of physics.
The Nonequilibrium Physics of Life Lab aims to describe and understand, in the language of physics, the properties of nonequilibrium soft systems such as living systems.
Drawing on the theories of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, information thermodynamics, and soft matter physics, the lab experimentally investigates a wide range of systems, from biomolecules, cell membranes, and cell motility to microscopic particles.
Professor Shoichi Toyabe moved from the Graduate School of Engineering and newly launched this lab together with Associate Professor Yuka Sakuma.
Key terms
- Nonequilibrium
- A state in which energy flows in and out and the system has not settled into balance. Living cells are in a nonequilibrium state.
- Information thermodynamics
- A physical theory that deals with the relationship between information and energy or heat in small systems subject to fluctuations.
- Active matter
- A system made up of many entities that use energy to move on their own. An example is the swimming of a swarm of bacteria.
- Taxis
- The tendency of living organisms to move toward an external cue such as a nutrient source.
NewsLab news
Professor Shoichi Toyabe moved from the Graduate School of Engineering and started the lab together with Associate Professor Yuka Sakuma
Optimal transport of a thermal system realized experimentally with scanning optical tweezers, published in Nature Communications
Paper exploring how to efficiently rotate the rotary molecular motor F1 published in Phys. Rev. Lett.
Paper showing suppression of errors in information replication by template ligation published in Phys. Rev. Research
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to describe and understand, in the language of physics, the properties of nonequilibrium soft systems such as living systems, drawing on the theories of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, information thermodynamics, and soft matter physics. It carries out experimental research on a wide range of systems, from living systems such as biomolecules, cell membranes, and cell motility to physical systems that use microscopic particles.
*Illustrative imageNonequilibrium and Information Thermodynamics of Fluctuating Systems
Using single-molecule experiments, the lab investigates the physics behind the motion of biomolecular machines that operate autonomously inside cells, with a focus on nonequilibrium, fluctuations, and information. It also takes on the challenges of experimentally demonstrating concepts of information thermodynamics and creating artificial molecular machines that operate autonomously.
*Illustrative imagePhysics of Active Matter
Bacteria process information from their environment to control their swimming, and show taxis toward nutrient sources. The lab describes this autonomous behavior in the language of physics, and explores the diverse phenomena that emerge when bacteria swim collectively as the physics of active matter.
*Illustrative imageOrigin of Life and Genetic Engineering
The lab views the origin of life, the transition from nonliving matter to life, as a problem of physics. It investigates the origins of genetic information and of self-replicating membranes using model experimental systems, and aims to use the knowledge gained to advance bioengineering technologies.
*Illustrative imagePhysical Properties of Cell Membranes and Biological Functions
Focusing on the mechanical properties of cell membranes, such as membrane elasticity and membrane fluidity, the lab compares living and non-living cell membranes to search for physical quantities that characterize being alive. It is extending this work to differences between the membranes of normal cells and diseased cells, exploring possible applications in medicine.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Nonequilibrium Physics of Life Lab consist of faculty, technical staff, research support staff, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShoichi Toyabe
- Associate ProfessorYuka Sakuma
- Assistant ProfessorYohei Nakayama
- Project Assistant ProfessorKenji Nishizawa
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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: “Microscope à fluorescence (Ifremer )” Olivier Dugornay / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Nonequilibrium and Information Thermodynamics of Fluctuating Systems: “PDB 3kar EBI” Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute / Public domain (cropped)
- Physics of Active Matter: “Bacterial condensation” LivneNir / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Origin of Life and Genetic Engineering: “DNA Double Helix by NHGRI” National Human Genome Research Institute / Public domain (cropped)
- Physical Properties of Cell Membranes and Biological Functions: “0303 Lipid Bilayer With Various Components” OpenStax / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Materials Physics Lab): “Stable Levitation of a magnet on a superconductor” Julien Bobroff (user:Jubobroff), Frederic Bouquet (user:Fbouquet), LPS, Orsay, France / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (IMR Theoretical Physics Lab): “Na8Si46 inorganic clathrate structure with coordination polyhedra” PickledSquid / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Condensed Matter Theory Lab): “Redes de Bravais” The original uploader was Angrense at Portuguese Wikipedia. / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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