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Chemical Genetics Lab
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A lab that combines chemistry and genetic engineering to explore how the brain works.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding living systems through chemistry.
The Kiyonaka Lab builds research tools, grounded in chemistry, to uncover the complex workings of living systems at the molecular level.
Using chemogenetics, a method that combines organic chemistry and genetic engineering, the lab aims to control the function of proteins in targeted cells.
With a particular focus on the brain, the lab is working to develop methodologies that are essential for understanding how memory works and for elucidating psychiatric disorders.
Key terms
- Chemogenetics
- A method that combines organic chemistry and genetic engineering to control the function of proteins in targeted cells
- Genetic engineering
- Technology that cuts and joins genes to alter the proteins that an organism produces
- Small organic molecules
- Small molecules built on a carbon backbone. Many drugs take this form, and they readily reach deep inside the body
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Symposium Poster Award at the 20th Symposium on Bio-related Chemistry
Lecturer Dora received the Poster Award for Excellence at The 55th Naito Conference
A master's student received a Poster Award (BCSJ Award / Chemistry Letters Young Researcher Award) at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Chemical Biology
A paper from joint research with Nagoya City University was published in Nat. Commun., and a press release was issued
A paper from joint research with the Hori Lab, in the same department, was published in ACS Synth. Biol.
ResearchResearch themes
Based on chemistry, the lab develops research tools to uncover the complexity of life at the molecular level, and works to elucidate how living systems function. In particular, it aims to elucidate brain function, much of which remains poorly understood, including how memory works and the mechanisms of psychiatric disorders.
*Illustrative imageNew Chemogenetic Methods
Small organic molecules can regulate protein function reversibly at a chosen time, but it is difficult to make them act only on targeted cells. By combining them with genetic engineering, which can modify proteins cell by cell, the lab develops methods to reveal the function of proteins in specific cells within tissues and animals.
*Illustrative imageOrganic Chemistry Methods Usable in Vivo
Small organic molecules readily reach deep inside the body and tissues. Taking advantage of this, the lab designs molecules to study how drugs work and to visualize proteins in tissue by fluorescence.
MembersFaculty
The Kiyonaka Lab's members include faculty, secretaries, technical assistants, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShigeki Kiyonaka
- LecturerTomohiro Dora
- Assistant ProfessorKenji Yatsuzuka
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: “Pipetten” No machine-readable author provided. Newbie~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). / Public domain (cropped)
- New Chemogenetic Methods: “GFP Neurons” ManuelSchottdorf / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Organic Chemistry Methods Usable in Vivo: “Green fluorescent protein (GFP) in Eppendorf Tubes” Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cellular and Molecular Informatics Lab): “Biotechnology lab” Timothydotuns / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biomolecular Applied Chemistry Lab): “Coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2” Alexey Solodovnikov (Idea, Producer, CG, Editor), Valeria Arkhipova (Scientific Сonsultant) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biosupramolecular Chemistry Lab): “Dna-163466” PublicDomainPictures / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Design Chemistry Lab): “Verrerie de Souvigny 04” Laurajwilkinson / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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