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Tsuge Lab
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A lab that gets microorganisms to produce plastic that returns to the soil.
AboutAbout the lab
Plastics made by microbes that return to the soil.
The Tsuge Lab researches how to create bioplastics that are in harmony with the global environment, and extends that work to biodegradable polymer materials.
Using renewable resources such as sugars, plant oils, and carbon dioxide, the lab has microorganisms produce biodegradable polymers.
The lab's work spans gene analysis and microbial breeding, crystal structure analysis, and materials design, approaching all of it from both polymer science and biological science.
The lab works in collaboration with the Abe Lab in the same program.
Key terms
- Biopolyester
- Polyester that microorganisms make inside their cells. It is broken down by microorganisms in nature.
- Biodegradability
- The property of a used material being broken down by the action of microorganisms in nature.
- Metabolic engineering
- A technique that rewires the reaction pathways by which substances are made inside microorganisms, in order to obtain more of a target substance.
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts fundamental research on having microorganisms produce biodegradable polymers (bioplastics) from renewable plant resources and carbon dioxide, and on turning them into high-performance materials. A particular focus is biopolyesters, which have begun to attract attention as a fifth kind of biopolymer.
*Illustrative imagePolyesters made by microorganisms
Many microorganisms store polyester as granules inside their cells as an energy reserve. Using genetic engineering and metabolic engineering to optimize microbial metabolic pathways, the lab has them efficiently produce biodegradable polyesters from sugars, plant oils, and carbon dioxide.
*Illustrative imageLooking at polyester crystals
The lab grows single crystals of biodegradable polyesters and investigates how the structures of the crystals and their surfaces relate to their properties and to how easily enzymes break them down. It analyzes them from multiple angles using transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray diffraction.
*Illustrative imageDesigning materials that degrade
The ideal biodegradable material performs well while in use and, once discarded, is broken down by microorganisms and returns to the natural carbon cycle. The lab seeks ways to control the molecular and solid-state structure of polymers so as to determine performance and biodegradability at the same time.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Tsuge Lab consist of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakeharu TsugePublications ↗
- Project Assistant Professor宮原 佑宜
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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: “Bioreactor 1” Luis Fernando Flores LAB / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Polyesters made by microorganisms: “Automated bacterial colony picking” András Pásztor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Looking at polyester crystals: “Spherulite 1” Salino01 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Designing materials that degrade: “Compost bin with compost” Niwrat / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (浅井研究室): “Solid polymeric foam” Eva Santini, Giovanna Canu, Michela E. Pedretti, CNR-ICMATE / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (松下
（伸） ・久保田研究室): “Photoresist spin-coaters at LAAS 0448” Guillaume Paumier (user:guillom) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (松田研究室): “Au sputtering light” GcG(jawp) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (三宮研究室): “Gold Colloid of varying size” Kumarbarc / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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