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Genome and Epigenome Dynamics Lab
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The lab investigates changes in the genome through the epigenome and retrotransposons.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring how genomes and epigenomes change
The Genome and Epigenome Dynamics Lab studies how the genome, the blueprint of living organisms, and the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate it are established and how they change.
Using comparisons such as human and chimpanzee iPS cells and mouse subspecies, the lab investigates epigenomic differences mainly through large-scale sequencing.
The lab pays particular attention to how mammalian retrotransposons alter the function of the genome.
The lab belongs to the Department of Biological Resource Sciences for undergraduates and the Department of Animal Sciences for graduate students.
Key terms
- Epigenetics
- A regulatory mechanism that determines how genes work in each cell type, mainly involving chemical modifications of DNA and histone proteins
- Epigenome
- The full set of epigenetic modifications in a cell
- Retrotransposon
- A transposable element that makes up about half of the non-protein-coding regions of mammalian genomes
NewsLab news
Professor Kenji received a Special Award from the President of the Tokai National Higher Education and Research System in its Educational Good Practice program
A paper showing that Alu retrotransposons are involved in immune cell responses was accepted by Epigenetics and Chromatin
A paper showing that pluripotency transcription factors repress LINE-1 in human iPS cells was accepted by Genes to Cells
Professor Kenji was recognized in the university-wide awards for faculty who contribute to undergraduate and general education
A master's student received the Excellent Poster Award at the GTR research report meeting
ResearchResearch themes
Cells within a single individual basically all carry the same genome sequence, yet they use epigenetic mechanisms to switch which genes are active. This lab studies how epigenetic differences arise, and how the genome and epigenome interact and change over the course of evolution.
*Illustrative imageChanges in the Genome and Epigenome
The lab investigates these through cross-species comparisons using primates and comparisons between mouse subspecies. Using human and chimpanzee iPS cells, it compares how epigenome dynamics differ while cells differentiate.
*Illustrative imageFunction and Regulation of Retrotransposons
The lab studies the function of retrotransposons and how they are regulated. Topics include chromatin compartmentalization by SINEs, the mechanism by which the anticancer drug 5-azacytidine activates endogenous retroviruses and thereby activates innate immunity, and what happens upon epigenome editing.
*Illustrative imageGenome Stability in Germ Cells
Germ cells are the only cells that pass genomic information on to the next generation. From an epigenetic perspective, the lab studies how retrotransposon activity is suppressed during development and how homologous DNA recombination in meiosis is regulated.
*Illustrative imageTransgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance
The health and nutritional status of parents, such as diabetes or a high-fat diet, may affect their offspring, and the lab investigates the nature of the inherited information and how it is transmitted. Changes in sperm DNA methylation caused by diabetes are one promising candidate.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Genome and Epigenome Dynamics Lab consist of faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, research students, and secretaries.As of 2026
- ProfessorKenji Kenji
- Assistant ProfessorHitoshi Ohtani
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: “Séquençage du génome d'une microalgue au laboratoire GENALG (Ifremer )” Stephane Lesbats (IFREMER, Pôle Images, Centre Bretagne - ZI de la Pointe du Diable - CS Plouzané, France) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Changes in the Genome and Epigenome: “A cell culture plate with induced pluripotent stem cells ( )” National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences from Bethesda, MD / Public domain (cropped)
- Function and Regulation of Retrotransposons: “LINE-1 Retrotransposon ORF2p” Jumper, J et al. Highly accurate protein structure prediction with AlphaFold. Nature (2021). Varadi, M et al. AlphaFold Protein Structure Database: massively expanding the structural coverage of protein-sequence space with high-accuracy models. Nucleic Acids Research (2021). Data is available for academic and commercial use, under a CC-BY-4.0 licence. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Genome Stability in Germ Cells: “Synapsis and Crossing Over No Labels” Christinelmiller / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: “Epigenetic mechanisms” National Institutes of Health / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Integrative Animal Physiology Lab): “Coturnix japonica, Yehliu, Taiwan 1” 孫鋒 林 from Taipei, Taiwan / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Environmental Systems Biology Lab): “Pupils plant and manage urine experiment ( )” SuSanA Secretariat / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Pest Control Lab): “Insect Alentejo Algarve Portugal - Macro Photography Canon - panoramio” pictures Jettcom / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Gene Function Lab): “Water reflection of mountains, hut, green rice sheaves scattered in a paddy field and clouds with blue sky in Vang Vieng, Laos” Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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