LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Igarashi Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A lab that uses quantum sensors to detect faint changes inside cells.
AboutAbout the lab
Approaching the essence of life through quantum eyes.
Igarashi Lab investigates biological phenomena using nanometer-sized quantum sensors.
Using a structure called the NV center in diamond, the lab measures temperature, magnetic fields, and electric fields with high sensitivity.
The lab takes on the challenge of quantitatively capturing minute changes inside living cells that have been difficult to measure until now.
It also works on building a diagnostic platform that detects early signs of disease from slight abnormalities appearing in blood and other body fluids.
Key terms
- Quantum sensor
- A device that uses quantum properties to measure very small changes in temperature or magnetic fields with high sensitivity
- NV center
- A special structure in a diamond crystal in which a carbon atom is replaced by nitrogen with an adjacent vacancy. Its spin state can be read out with light
- Spin
- A property of particles such as electrons that makes them behave like tiny magnets
ResearchResearch themes
Just as the invention of the microscope and molecular biology did, tools for understanding life have always pushed open the frontier of science. Igarashi Lab believes that this frontier has now extended into the quantum world, and it proposes a new perspective for approaching the essence of biological phenomena through nanoscale measurement technology.
*Illustrative imageThe world's smallest, ultra-sensitive sensor
Using NV centers inside nanometer-sized diamond, the lab builds the smallest and most sensitive sensors in the world. The spin behaves like a tiny compass and senses temperature, magnetic fields, electric fields, and even chemical reactions.
*Illustrative imageDesigning how to "use" quantum
The lab develops methodologies for turning the faint signals picked up by the sensor into meaningful information. These include techniques for extracting only the target signal from biological noise, surface modifications that react only to specific molecules, and the design of measurement algorithms that improve resolution.
*Illustrative imageProbing the depths of life
The lab takes on the challenge of quantitatively capturing minute changes inside living cells that were previously difficult to measure, such as temperature, pH, viscosity, and redox state. These changes are closely tied to the state of cells and to signs that appear at the very earliest stages of disease.
*Illustrative imageDetecting signs of disease
The lab works to detect the faint signs of abnormality that appear in blood and other body fluids, with world-class sensitivity. It aims to build a diagnostic platform that anyone can use for diseases that are hard to detect early, such as Alzheimer's disease and cancer.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorRyuji IgarashiPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Igarashi Lab
Yasui LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyBiomolecular analysis using nanodevices and quantum technolo…
Seki LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyMicroscopic vibrational spectroscopy, bio-nano interfaces an…
Kitaguchi LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyBioimaging, biosensors, fluorescent proteins, antibodies
Mori LabSchool of Life Science and Technology, Department of Life Science and TechnologyCell surface, glycopolymers, biomaterials, single-molecule m…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: “Fluorescent nanodiamonds surrounding living HeLa cells” Autor Skutečný / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The world's smallest, ultra-sensitive sensor: “Diamond-gem7-49b” Robert M. Lavinsky / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Designing how to "use" quantum: “DNA microarray chip” ErikAbner / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Probing the depths of life: “MEF cell mitochondria 2” Institute of Molecular Medicine I, University of Düsseldorf / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Detecting signs of disease: “Microfluidic chip for point-of-care medical devices” FMNLab / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (安井研究室): “Zinc Nanowires ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (関研究室): “NIST Membrane Model ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (北口研究室): “Crystal Jelly ("Aequorea Victoria"), Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California, USA” Jim G from Silicon Valley, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (森俊明研究室): “Quartz resonators with front and back electrodes” Beaker / CC BY 3.0 (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.