Assoc.Prof. ISOTANI Ayako
Organ Developmental Engineering
Please tell us about your own research and what you find interesting about it.
In our laboratory, we’re using chimeric animals in which two cells with different genomic information coexist in one body. Chimeric animals can be created by using a technique called developmental engineering that mixes two or more fertilized eggs into one or mixes fertilized eggs with pluripotent stem cells such as ES cells and iPS cells. I was motivated to become a researcher when I learned about this developmental engineering technology, and I feel the mystery of life is that we can create the desired animal by artificially manipulating the embryo during development. Currently, I’m conducting research on the formation of organs using interspecies chimeric animals in which mouse and rat cells coexist in one body.
Please tell us about the difficulties and joys of the research field.
I don't think there would be any joy without hard work, but I'm happy when an experiment doesn't work out and we come up with a number of hypotheses that work. Also, when I can report the results of my research to the world in a paper, I feel that I’ve done my job.
Please tell us about the expected results and social significance of the project.
Interspecies chimeric animals, in which cells from two different animal species are combined, are attracting attention as a method to produce donor organs for organ transplantation from pluripotent stem cells, for which there is currently a severe shortage in the field of regenerative medicine. We’re studying how and what kind of organs can be generated from pluripotent stem cell-derived donor organs for transplantation in interspecies animal models using mouse and rat chimeras. Through these animal models, we are aiming for a future in which donor organs for transplantation are produced and supplied in the animal body.
A message of support for students who are about to take the exam
Science is about creating the future; at NAIST, we're creating the future together!
What websites, books, review articles, and so on, do you recommend for studying in order to apply for the lab ?
- Essential Cell Biology
If you’re interested in development, you may also find the following reference books interesting.
- Developmental Biology
- Manipulating the Mouse Embryo
What do you do to keep yourself fresh?
Drinking wine, being surrounded by the birds, fish and plants I have at home.