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Biomolecular Machine Design Lab
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A lab that seeks to understand how biological molecular motors move in one direction by creating them.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding molecular motors by creating them.
The Biomolecular Machine Design Lab studies how biological molecular motors such as kinesin and dynein move reliably in one direction in a nanoscale world dominated by thermal fluctuations.
Beyond examining existing molecular motors, the lab is trying to establish a “create to understand” approach: prototyping new molecular motors from simple components and understanding them through their behavior.
It also focuses on the connection between parts and the whole as the hierarchy rises from molecules to organelles, cells, and individuals, and investigates collective properties in model systems using DNA nanostructures and other materials.
The laboratory space is located in the Advanced ICT Research Institute (Kobe/Akashi) of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), and the lab operates as a team within NICT's Biophysics Project.
Key terms
- Biological molecular motor
- A molecular machine that generates the various movements of living things. Kinesin and dynein are examples.
- Thermal fluctuation
- The constant, random motion of molecules caused by heat. In the nanoscale world, this motion becomes dominant.
- DNA nanostructure
- A tiny structure assembled using DNA as the material. This lab uses it as a basic structure that is easy to control.
NewsLab news
A master's student won the Student Presentation Award at the 9th Molecular Robotics Annual Meeting
A student won a Poster Award at the Annual Meeting of the Protein Science Society of Japan
A paper on the effects of physiological environments on kinesin motility was published in Cell Structure and Function
A paper on a new motility mechanism of kinesin was published in PNAS
A master's student won the Young Researcher Encouragement Award at the 7th Molecular Robotics Annual Meeting
ResearchResearch themes
Biological molecular motors are molecular machines that generate the various movements of living things. The lab studies how kinesin and dynein move in one direction in a world dominated by thermal fluctuations, and also works on designing new molecular machines modeled on natural ones and autonomous micro-robots.
*Illustrative imageDesign principles of how molecular motors move
It seems difficult at first glance for a protein to move in one direction in an environment dominated by thermal fluctuations. In addition to analyzing existing molecular motors, the lab is trying to establish a “create to understand” approach by prototyping new molecular motors from simple components and understanding them through their behavior.
*Illustrative imageDesigning and controlling collective motion
As the hierarchy rises from molecules to organelles, cells, and individuals, disordered movements become coordinated, and this in turn affects each level. To explore this connection between parts and the whole, the lab builds model systems with DNA nanostructures and other materials and investigates the properties of collectives and methods to control them.
*Illustrative imageDesigning autonomous micro-robots
The lab regards cells, which have sensors, processors, and actuators, as autonomously moving micro-robots. It aims to create such robots by assembling biological materials through self-organization, and to understand how cells remember and make decisions.
MembersFaculty
The members page covers the entire NICT Biophysics Project and consists of research managers, principal researchers, senior researchers, researchers, technicians, secretaries, research assistants, trainees, and collaborating researchers.As of 2026
- Visiting Associate ProfessorKen'ya Furuta
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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: “PDB 3kar EBI” Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute / Public domain (cropped)
- Design principles of how molecular motors move: “Actin kinesin walking” Boumphreyfr / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Designing and controlling collective motion: “Microtubule binding domain fused with GFP-tag reveals microtubule network of HeLa cell line” DrBib / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Designing autonomous micro-robots: “DNA tetrahedron” Antony-22 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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