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Material Biology Lab
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The lab learns from how living organisms build polymers.
AboutAbout the lab
Living organisms build polymers without heat or pressure.
The Material Biology Lab focuses on a sophisticated biological function: biomass such as the cell walls of wood synthesizes water-insoluble polymers in water, without heat or pressure.
By studying proteins while observing the polymers they produce, the lab aims to elucidate and control how organisms regulate the structure of their polymers.
The lab also studies the relationship between humans and trees using wood specimens, the environmental physiology of xylem formation, and plastic degradation inspired by living organisms.
Key terms
- Cellulose
- The main component of plant cell walls; a polymer made of sugars linked in long chains
- Biomass
- Resources derived from living organisms, such as wood
- Xylem
- The part of a tree trunk that carries water and supports the tree. It becomes wood
- Cellulase
- An enzyme that breaks down cellulose
ResearchResearch themes
The lab uses biochemistry and polymer science to study how organisms control the structure of the polymers that form biomass.
*Illustrative imageBiomass Formation and Synthetic Biology
Using enzymes such as cellulose synthase and hemicellulose synthase from bacteria and woody plants, the lab mimics and analyzes cell wall structures to understand the superior properties of biomass.
*Illustrative imageInterdisciplinary Science of Humans and Wood
Drawing on the wood specimens of its xylarium, the lab uses wood anatomy, tree species identification, and dendroclimatology to trace the history of humans and trees through the wood used in wooden sculptures and historic buildings. It is also studying how wood changes over time by using old timber.
*Illustrative imageEnvironmental Physiology of Xylem Formation
In the laboratory, the lab applies environmental changes to see how wood formation changes, and uses genetic modification to investigate physiologically what causes different types of wood to form.
*Illustrative imagePlastic Degradation Inspired by Living Organisms
To explain why cellulose is easily degraded while plastics are not, even though both are polymers, the lab studies cellulases together with the biodegradation of synthetic polymers.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorTomoya Imai
- Associate ProfessorSuyako Tazuru
- Assistant ProfessorKeiichi Baba
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: “Xylem rays” Adree.stem / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Biomass Formation and Synthetic Biology: “Structure of a bacterial cellulose synthase” MArticles / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Interdisciplinary Science of Humans and Wood: “Dendrochronological drill hg” Hannes Grobe/AWI / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Environmental Physiology of Xylem Formation: “Gymnosperm Leaves Xylem in Two Needle Pinus ( )” Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library / CC0 (cropped)
- Plastic Degradation Inspired by Living Organisms: “Stages of marine plastic biodegradation” Justine Jacquin, Jingguang Cheng, Charlène Odobel, Caroline Pandin, Pascal Conan, Mireille Pujo-Pay, Valérie Barbe, Anne-Leila Meistertzheim and Jean-François Ghiglione / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (森林代謝機能化学分野): “Rosa epicuticular wax stoma” Plantsurfer at English Wikipedia / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (大気圏環境情報分野): “Air pollution3” Janak Bhatta / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (バイオマス変換分野): “Lignin” Smokefoot / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (森林圏遺伝子統御分野): “Lithospermum erythrorhizon (Boraginaceae) ( )” yakovlev.alexey from Moscow, Russia / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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