What we aim...

Life can be described as "an assembly of numerous chemical reactions." Over a long period, nature has evolved various enzymes to enable diverse chemical reactions. The fact that a single enzyme malfunction can cause disease demonstrates how enzymatic reactions in our bodies are interconnected, forming an intricate network. 

Our long-term goal is to develop novel therapeutic approaches by creating "designer enzymes" - artificial enzymes with functions not found in nature - enabling regulation of this enzymatic reaction network. To achieve this, we are pursuing research from two perspectives:

1. Development of designer biomolecules

From the viewpoint of synthetic chemistry and coordination chemistry, we aim to endow proteins and other biomolecules with functions that nature has not evolved.

2. Exploitation of designer biomolecules in a biochemical context

We are pursuing to implement our designed biomolecules function in their "natural" environment (i.e., complex biological systems, cells, and organisms) to control biomolecular systems.

Join us！

Our goals require knowledge and skills from various fields - organic synthesis, protein engineering, synthetic biology, molecular cell biology, computational science, and more. Therefore, we are actively seeking co-workers from above disciplines.

Postdoc

We are always accepting applications for JSPS Research Fellows. We will support you in preparing your application. Employment through external funding may also be possible, so please feel free to contact us to discuss opportunities.

Graduate Student

We accept graduate students through the Department of Molecular Science at SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies). (https://www.ims.ac.jp/education/) Financial support is available. Dr. Okamoto himself spent 1.5 years at IMS as a collaborative research student during his PhD and can personally recommend both the research and living environment from a student's perspective. If you have any questions about our lab atmosphere or mentoring approach, please contact us through the Google form.