English
Materials and Bioscience
Program Contents
In order to confront the complicated problems that contemporary society faces, the integration of science and technology in harmony with a broad range of fields has become increasingly important. The disciplines of chemistry and biology have contributed in this endeavor and it is certain that synergy between these branches of science will produce further breakthroughs by combining their common perspectives of “molecular transformation” and “functional organization of interactions.”
To promote these developments, a new department was established in 2007 that fused chemistry and chemical biology, which has grown into the Division of Molecular Science. We are home to more than 30 research groups in major research areas of Molecular Science, Material Science and Chemical Biology. Each research group pursues its own research mission as well as collaborating on joint research projects with other groups.
Faculty Members and Fields of Specialization
| Faculty Members | Fields of Specialization | |
|---|---|---|
| professor | Naoki Asakawa | Bio-inspired devices using emergent property found in polymers |
| professor | Motoko S. Asano | Photophysics and design of photofunctional composite molecular systems including coordination compounds |
| professor | Hideki Amii | Development of synthetic organic reactions and their applications |
| Professor | Yusuke Inoue | Functional analysis of the liver-enriched nuclear receptors using gene-targeted mice |
| professor | Hiroki Uehara | Development of property and functionality of nano-structured polymeric materials |
| professor | Masafumi Unno | Organosilicon and organic heteroatom chemistry: molecular design, synthesis, and application |
| Professor | Md. Zakir Hossain | Chemical modification of epitaxial graphene on SiC substrate |
| professor | Tetsuo Okutsu | Physical chemistry, photochemistry and crystal growth |
| professor | Hiroaki Ozaki | Development of modified nucleic acids and its application |
| professor | Ken-ichi Kasuya | Structure and function of polyester-degrading enzymes, screening of microorganisms involved in the environmental cleanup |
| professor | Soichiro Kyushin | Structures and properties of organosilicon compounds |
| professor | Toru Kyomen | Solid state chemistry and design of functional oxides |
| professor | Takako Kudo | Molecular orbital study of silicon or transition metal compounds |
| Professor | Kiichi Sato | Development of micro bioanalysis systems |
| professor | Soshi Shiraishi | Development of carbon-based nanoporous materials and electrochemical capacitors |
| professor | Yoshihiro Sumiyoshi | Studies on molecular structures of transient species and complexes consisting of radicals |
| professor | Masashi Sonoyama | Biomolecular science, Biophysical chemistry of proteins, Biospectroscopy, Bioinformatics |
| professor | Hiroshi Takahashi | Structural analysis and thermal study of model biomembranes |
| professor | Shigeki Takeda | Functional analysis of receptors, characterization and application of protein self-assembly |
| professor | Yosuke Nakamura | Construction and properties of novel π -conjugated systems including fullerene chemistry and supramolecular chemistry |
| professor | Minoru Hanaya | Development and characterization of functional solid-state materials |
| professor | Ichiro Matsuo | Glycoscience, Glycotechnology, Synthetic study of glycoconjugates |
| professor | Takeshi Yamanobe | Structure of polymers and solid state NMR |
| professor | Takao Yamamoto | Statistical physics |
| professor | Kaori Wakamatsu | Structural biology of proteins involved in signal transduction, prevention of protein aggregation, and development of epileptic rat |
| Associate Professor | Shinji Iwamoto | Solvothermal synthesis of inorganic materials and their performance as catalysts |
| Associate Professor | Atsushi Enomoto | Suppression of antibody and T cell responses against allergens and autoantigens, advanced functional foods for prevention of diseases |
| Associate Professor | Hiroyuki Oku | Malaria vaccine and diagnosis material; biofunctional chemistry; biomedical and functional polymers |
| Associate Professor | Ken-ichiro Kanno | Synthesis and properties of novel organosilicon compounds using transition-metal complexes |
| Associate Professor | Tsuyoshi Takahashi | Construction and application of functional molecules using peptide and protein engineering |
| Associate Professor | Nobuhiro Takeda | Synthesis of metal complexes bearing new ligands for the purpose of activating small molecules |
| Associate Professor | Hiroyuki Takeda | Functionalization of First Transition Metal Complexes Intending Artificial Photosynthesis |
| Associate Professor | Hiroyuki Takeno | Self-assembling structure and dynamics of multicomponent polymer systems |
| Associate Professor | Yuya Tachibana | Development of biobased and biodegradable polymers |
| Associate Professor | Nobukazu Nameki | Analyses of novel translation regulation mechanisms, and structural bioinformatics |
| Associate Professor | Jun-ichi Fujisawa | Studies of organic-inorganic hybrid materials for light energy conversions |
| Associate Professor | Hiroaki Horiuchi | Study of photofunctional materials based on photo-physical chemistry |
| Associate Professor | Takako Muraoka | Studies on unique ligands with heavier typical elements and their transition metal complexes |
| Associate Professor | Tomohisa Moriguchi | Development of functional oligonucleotides, chemistry of natural products |
| Associate Professor | Minoru Yamaji | Photophysics and photochemistry of organic and organometallic compounds |
| Associate Professor | Keiichi Yamada | Development of novel bioactive peptides utilizing molecular imaging technique |
| Associate Professor | Toshitada Yoshihara | Photophysical and photochemical studies of aromatic compounds and its application for bioimaging |
| Associate Professor | Masaru Yoneyama | Transition metal-catalyzed polymerization, Synthesis of polymers from unutilized resources |
| Visiting Professor | Hideki Abe | Studies on molecular and material design of polymers from biomass organic chemicals |
| Visiting Professor | Takayuki Kawashima | Creation of new functional molecules utilizing main group elements |
| Visiting Professor | Takeshi Saito | Preparation and evaluation of organic standard reference materials |
| Visiting Professor | Noriaki Seko | R & D of the polymer modification technique by radiation processing |
| Visiting Professor | Mitumasa Taguchi | Reactions of radiation-induced reactive species and their applications in water environment conservation |
| Visiting Professor | Naoko Nonose | Chemical standards for inorganic materials and plasma spectrometry |
| Visiting Professor | Masahiko Numata | Preparation and evaluation of organic standard reference materials |
| Visiting Professor | Tetsuya Yamaki | Nanotechnology Research and Material Development for Applications to Next-Generation Energy Devices |
| Visiting Associate Professor |
Yoshihiro Kikkawa | Studies on Surface Molecuclar Assembly, Development of Biodegrable Polymer Materials with Controlled Biodegradation |
| Visiting Associate Professor |
Ryoji Tanaka | Exploration of new synthesis methods in organosilicon chemistry |
| Visiting Associate Professor |
Keiji Numata | Studies on structure-function relationship of spider dragline silk and artificial silk materials |
| Visiting Associate Professor |
Akihiro Hiroki | Radiation modification technologies for environment-friendly polymer materials |
| Visiting Associate Professor |
Hiroki Yamamoto | Study on Ultra-finefabrication Matterials Based on Reaction Induced by Quantum Beam |
Researchers
New functional bio-based plastics and clarifying the biodegradation mechanism of plastics
Ken-ichi Kasuya leads the Green Polymer research group at Gunma University. Research in his group focuses on the development of new functional bio-based plastics and clarifying the biodegradation mechanism of plastics. Recently his group has succeeded in synthesizing a fully bio-based plastic from a plant. In addition, he has been addressing the development of novel biodegradable plastics in order to solve profound problems caused by microplastics in the ocean.
Professor
Ken-ichi Kasuya
Toward understanding the biological function of carbohydrate through chemical synthesis
The main research focus in Professor Matsuo’s laboratory is carbohydrate chemistry. Carbohydrates play various biological roles such as cell-cell recognition, differentiation, malignant transformation, bacterial infection, and glycoprotein quality control. Our research group is working on synthesis of glycoconjugates (e.g. N-linked and O-linked glycoprotein glycans, glycolipids, and glycosylated natural products) and chemically modified glycans, with the aim of clarifying the biological roles of carbohydrates, developing diagnosis systems for carbohydrate-related disorders, performing functional analysis of glycosyltransferases / glycosidases, and developing glycosylated new materials.
Professor
Ichiro Matsuo
Student’s voice
One of my dream is to be a contributor to solve environmental issues causing by plastic wastes. It has come true when I became a member of Kasuya’s Laboratory at Gunma University. Now I am studying biodegradable polymers, which could be broken down by microorganisms through the metabolic processes.
Besides researching, I enjoy Japanese traditional culture such as tea ceremony and Zazen, which were hold by kind Japanese in Kiryu city. It was not only the place to learn Japanese culture, but also the place that I could make friends with lovely local people. I am really enjoying student life here at Gunma University.
Soulenthone, Phouvilay