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Reproductive Biology Lab
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The lab investigates the mechanisms of mammalian reproduction, from the fertilized egg to the next generation.
AboutAbout the lab
Chance and necessity in the continuity of life.
The Reproductive Biology Lab aims to understand the mechanisms of mammalian reproduction and to apply that understanding to controlling reproduction in livestock and other resource animals.
At the molecular level, the lab studies the development of fertilized eggs in mice and cattle, genes specific to eggs, and how the environment surrounding early embryos affects growth and health.
The lab accepts lab visits and invites those who want to hear more about its research themes to visit.
Undergraduate students are assigned to the Applied Animal Science Course in their third year, and to this lab within the course in their fourth year (the graduate program is the Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture).
Key terms
- Embryonic genome activation
- The point after fertilization when a fertilized egg's own genes first begin to function
- Epigenome
- The whole set of marks that determine which genes are active, without changing the DNA sequence
- Early embryo
- The embryo from when the fertilized egg begins to divide until around the time it implants in the uterus
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Excellent Presentation Award at the 119th Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproduction and Development
A paper on the relationship between totipotency and Pcgf5 was published, based on joint research with Shiga University of Medical Science
A paper on the enzyme METTL3, which is involved in early embryo development, was published in Reproduction
A paper on the enzyme OGT, which is involved in the differences between the two nuclei of a fertilized egg, was published in FASEB Journal
A paper on drug-inducible gene expression in early embryos was published in Journal of Reproduction and Development
ResearchResearch themes
Mammalian reproduction has a "continuity" that runs from parent to child and from child to grandchild. The lab conducts research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of reproduction and applying that understanding to controlling reproduction in resource animals.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment and differentiation of fertilized eggs
Viruses that infected ancestors are involved in embryonic genome activation, when genes first begin to function in a fertilized egg. The lab studies the process by which the nuclei of the sperm and egg become the nuclei of the fertilized egg, and the process by which the embryo's cells divide into various cell types.
*Illustrative imageOog1, a gene that functions only in eggs
Oog1, a gene specific to oocytes discovered in the lab, begins to function in the germ cells of female fetuses and stops at the end of meiosis, but its role is still unknown. The lab investigates its function using molecular biology methods.
*Illustrative imageEpigenome maps of resource animals
It has become clear that the environment surrounding early embryos affects later growth and health. Since 2019, the lab has been collecting epigenome maps of resource animals, aiming to clarify these long-term effects and apply them to embryo production and other uses.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Reproductive Biology Lab consist of faculty and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShuntaro Ikeda
- Assistant ProfessorShinnosuke Honda
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: “Blastocyst embryo” Database Center for Life Science (DBCLS) / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Development and differentiation of fertilized eggs: “Lepidosiren paradoxa cleavage in the egg” Nelsen, Olin E. / Public domain (cropped)
- Oog1, a gene that functions only in eggs: “Oocyte with Zona pellucida ( )” ZEISS Microscopy from Germany / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Epigenome maps of resource animals: “Tamworth pigs and piglets on a farm in Toogong, New South Wales, July 2022 04” Calistemon / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (育種学分野): “Ears of Wheat - Aylesham, Dover district of Kent - England” ㇹヮィㇳ / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (海洋生物機能学分野): “Red sea bream” malias / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (植物生理学分野): “Marchantia polymorpha - Common Liverwort 02” Jasper Shide / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab
(動物栄養科学分野): “Water reflection of a boy feeding hay to a cow in a paddy field at golden hour in Laos” Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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