NEWS | Geobiology and Astrobiology Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research

March 23, 2026
At the 50th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Phycology (Tsukuba, March 20 – March 23), Student Trainee Tsunoda presented a poster. Tsunoda received the Student Presentation Award!

Congratulations, Mr. Tsunoda!
January 30, 2026
A paper by Student Trainee Nakagawa, titled "Group I introns in tRNA genes of Patescibacteria," has been published in mSystems!

DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01536-25
December 12, 2025
A paper by Yuki Nishimura from the University of Tokyo, titled "CORGIAS: identifying correlated gene pairs by considering evolutionary history in a large-scale prokaryotic genome dataset,"" has been published in NAR Genomics & Bioinformatics! Research Scientist Omae contributed to the study as a co-author.

DOI: 10.1093/nargab/lqaf182
December 1, 2025
At the SYMBIO2025 (Okinawa, November 28 – December 1), Student Trainee Tsunoda presented a poster. Tsunoda received the Young Researchers' Presentation Award!

Congratulations, Mr. Tsunoda!
November 28, 2025
The website for our collaborative research project with the University of Leeds has been launched.

ACROPATH Research Network
November 24, 2025
A paper by Research Scientist Amikura, titled "Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria,” has been published in Molecular Biology and Evolution!

DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaf288
November 24, 2025
A paper titled "Bioinformatics classification of the MgtE Mg²⁺ channel and de novo protein design for the stabilization of its novel subclass,” has been published in Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica! Research Scientist Omae contributed to the study as a co-author.

DOI: 10.3724/abbs.2025224
November 07, 2025
At the 1st East Asia Conference on Extremophiles (Saitama, November 5 – 7), Chief Scientist Suzuki gave an kenote lecture.
November 05, 2025
A paper titled “The evolutionary lifecycle of ribosome hibernation factors,” resulting from a collaborative study with Newcastle University, has been released on bioRxiv!

DOI: 10.1101/2025.11.04.686544
October 28, 2025
We invited Professor Motoyuki Hattori from the School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, to give a lecture at a RIKEN Seminar.

Thank you very much, Professor Hattori, for your wonderful lecture!
October 23, 2025
A paper titled “JAXA curation for Bennu samples returned by the NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission,” has been published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science! Chief Scientist Suzuki contributed to the study as a co-author.

DOI: 10.1111/maps.70066 OSIRIS-REx Mission (ASRG, JAXA)
October 10, 2025
At the CREST [Genome Synthesis] Meeting (October 9–10, Kochi), Chief Scientist Dr. Suzuki gave an oral presentation, while Research Scientist Dr. Amikura and Trainee Nakagawa presented posters. Trainee Nakagawa received the Best Poster Award!

Congratulations, Ms. Nakagawa!
October 8, 2025
At the CO World General Meeting 2025 (October 6–8, Okinawa), Chief Scientist Dr. Suzuki, Visiting Scientist Dr. Ishii, and Research Scientist Dr. Omae gave oral presentations, while Trainee Matsumoto presented a poster. Trainee Matsumoto received the Best Poster Award!
October 5, 2025
Chief Scientist Suzuki gave an invited lecture at the OIST Science Talk in NAHA "Origin of Life", held in Okinawa on October 5.

The OIST Public Relations page
September 25, 2025
Chief Scientist Suzuki gave an invited lecture at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society of Japan, held in Nara from September 24 to 26.
September 19, 2025
A paper by Naoki Konno from Stanford University, titled “Repeatability of protein structural evolution following convergent gene fusions,” has been published in Nature Communications! Research Scientist Omae contributed to the study as a co-author.

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63898-x Press Release (Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo)
September 11, 2025
At the 38th JSME (Tokyo, September 7–10), Student Trainee Matsumoto and Visiting Scientist Ishii presented posters, while Student Trainee Nakagawa and Research Scientist Omae gave oral presentations. Matsumoto received the Best Poster Award!

Congratulations, Ms. Matsumoto!
July 21, 2025
At the Applied and Environmental Microbiology Gordon Research Conference (Massachusetts, July 13–18), Student Trainee Nakagawa and Research Scientist Omae presented posters, while Visiting Scientist Ishii gave an invited presentation.
July 3, 2025
Nakagawa's paper “A Novel Insertion Site for Group I Introns in tRNA Genes of Patescibacteria” has been published on bioRxiv!

DOI: 10.1101/2025.07.03.662931
July 1, 2025
Ishii has joined our laboratory.

We look forward to working with you from today!
May 30, 2025
At The Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) Meeting 2025 (May 25–30, Makuhari), Chief Scientist Suzuki and Research Scientist Omae gave oral presentations.
May 1, 2025
Aoki has joined our laboratory.

We look forward to working with you from today!
April 1, 2025
Waga and Nishide have joined our laboratory.

We look forward to working with you from today!
March 28, 2025
At the 49th Annual Meeting of The Society for the Study of the Origin and Evolution of Life Japan (March 26–28, Yokohama), Student Trainee Matsumoto presented a poster, while Chief Scientist Suzuki and Research Scientist Omae gave oral presentations.
March 19, 2025
We held a kickoff meeting for an international collaborative research project at the University of Leeds and Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.
January 23, 2025
Mr. Naoki Konno (D3) from the Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, gave a lecture at the RIKEN Seminar (Title: Toward predictive biology of evolution).

The seminar was highly meaningful, with lively discussions taking place throughout. Thank you very much, Mr. Konno!
December 18, 2024
Students from Saitama Prefectural Omiya Senior High School visited our laboratory.

Thank you for all the questions you asked about Dr. Suzuki's presentation.
2 November 30, 2024
Dr. Amikura's paper “Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria” has been published on bioRxiv!

DOI: 10.1101/2024.11.29.625318
November 19, 2024
Students from Tosa Senior High School visited our laboratory.

Thank you for listening to Dr. Suzuki's presentation with such enthusiasm.
June 13, 2024
Microbe opens the door to carbon-dioxide driven manufacturing.

We have discovered a new microbe that may offer insights into the origins of life on Earth, the search for extraterrestrial life, and microbial manufacturing. Found in the extreme environment of The Cedars in northern California, this microorganism, called Met12, converts carbon dioxide into acetate using a previously unknown metabolic pathway. Unlike its relatives, it does not produce methane but instead relies on a unique gene, MmcX, to enhance electron uptake and facilitate energy metabolism.
This discovery suggests that early life on Earth may have used similar processes to survive in harsh conditions. Met12’s ability to thrive in an inhospitable environment could also provide clues about life on other planets. We initially doubted their findings, but through synthetic biology techniques, we confirmed the microbe’s existence and metabolic function.
Beyond its implications for understanding life’s origins, this research has practical applications. The MmcX gene could improve biofuel production and microbial carbon sequestration, helping to address climate change. We are now exploring other extreme environments, such as Japan’s hot springs and the Mariana Trench, to uncover more unique microbes and genes with potential biotechnological applications.

RIKEN Press release "Microbe opens the door to carbon-dioxide driven manufacturing"

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2023
2024
2025

At the 50th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Phycology (Tsukuba, March 20 – March 23), Student Trainee Tsunoda presented a poster. Tsunoda received the Student Presentation Award!

A paper by Student Trainee Nakagawa, titled "Group I introns in tRNA genes of Patescibacteria," has been published in mSystems!

At the SYMBIO2025 (Okinawa, November 28 – December 1), Student Trainee Tsunoda presented a poster. Tsunoda received the Young Researchers' Presentation Award!

The website for our collaborative research project with the University of Leeds has been launched.

A paper by Research Scientist Amikura, titled "Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria,” has been published in Molecular Biology and Evolution!

A paper titled "Bioinformatics classification of the MgtE Mg²⁺ channel and de novo protein design for the stabilization of its novel subclass,” has been published in Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica! Research Scientist Omae contributed to the study as a co-author.

At the 1st East Asia Conference on Extremophiles (Saitama, November 5 – 7), Chief Scientist Suzuki gave an kenote lecture.

A paper titled “The evolutionary lifecycle of ribosome hibernation factors,” resulting from a collaborative study with Newcastle University, has been released on bioRxiv!

We invited Professor Motoyuki Hattori from the School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, to give a lecture at a RIKEN Seminar.

A paper titled “JAXA curation for Bennu samples returned by the NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission,” has been published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science! Chief Scientist Suzuki contributed to the study as a co-author.

At the CREST [Genome Synthesis] Meeting (October 9–10, Kochi), Chief Scientist Dr. Suzuki gave an oral presentation, while Research Scientist Dr. Amikura and Trainee Nakagawa presented posters. Trainee Nakagawa received the Best Poster Award!

At the CO World General Meeting 2025 (October 6–8, Okinawa), Chief Scientist Dr. Suzuki, Visiting Scientist Dr. Ishii, and Research Scientist Dr. Omae gave oral presentations, while Trainee Matsumoto presented a poster. Trainee Matsumoto received the Best Poster Award!

Chief Scientist Suzuki gave an invited lecture at the OIST Science Talk in NAHA "Origin of Life", held in Okinawa on October 5.

Chief Scientist Suzuki gave an invited lecture at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society of Japan, held in Nara from September 24 to 26.

A paper by Naoki Konno from Stanford University, titled “Repeatability of protein structural evolution following convergent gene fusions,” has been published in Nature Communications! Research Scientist Omae contributed to the study as a co-author.

At the 38th JSME (Tokyo, September 7–10), Student Trainee Matsumoto and Visiting Scientist Ishii presented posters, while Student Trainee Nakagawa and Research Scientist Omae gave oral presentations. Matsumoto received the Best Poster Award!

At the Applied and Environmental Microbiology Gordon Research Conference (Massachusetts, July 13–18), Student Trainee Nakagawa and Research Scientist Omae presented posters, while Visiting Scientist Ishii gave an invited presentation.

Nakagawa's paper “A Novel Insertion Site for Group I Introns in tRNA Genes of Patescibacteria” has been published on bioRxiv!

Ishii has joined our laboratory.

At The Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) Meeting 2025 (May 25–30, Makuhari), Chief Scientist Suzuki and Research Scientist Omae gave oral presentations.

Aoki has joined our laboratory.

Waga and Nishide have joined our laboratory.

At the 49th Annual Meeting of The Society for the Study of the Origin and Evolution of Life Japan (March 26–28, Yokohama), Student Trainee Matsumoto presented a poster, while Chief Scientist Suzuki and Research Scientist Omae gave oral presentations.

We held a kickoff meeting for an international collaborative research project at the University of Leeds and Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Naoki Konno (D3) from the Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, gave a lecture at the RIKEN Seminar (Title: Toward predictive biology of evolution).

Students from Saitama Prefectural Omiya Senior High School visited our laboratory.

Dr. Amikura's paper “Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria” has been published on bioRxiv!

Students from Tosa Senior High School visited our laboratory.

Microbe opens the door to carbon-dioxide driven manufacturing.