I want to witness the evolution of life beyond imagination. Nurturing the seeds of curiosity and giving back to society through the experience I've gained.

Profile

Graduate of Keio Shonan Fujisawa Senior High School, Kanagawa Prefecture

Growing up surrounded by plants and animals, she was passionate about her studies and hobbies in high school. A high school class inspired her to pursue biology in earnest, leading her to choose the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology. While dedicating herself to her research, she also balanced it with the teacher certification program. She has cultivated a broad perspective by engaging with many people in diverse environments, such as growing vegetables on a farm and working part-time at a Juku. What's her secret to staying active, driven by her own interests? We talked to her about her conviction to pursue what she loves.

[*] Year of enrollment at the time of the interview (August 2022).

Since I attended one of the affiliated schools, I was able to study what I liked as much as I liked, rather than focusing on entrance exam preparation. I would take my biology textbook to the gym and read it while on a fitness bike, or read my favorite gardening books (laughs). I had loved living things since I was a child, but my interest grew even more after learning about genes in my high school biology class. The process of deciphering DNA, the blueprint of the body, to create proteins as its components, and the mechanism for passing genes on to offspring were incredibly fascinating. I was moved by how living organisms are equipped with such systematic, machine-like mechanisms. This experience strengthened my desire to study biology at university. The school's culture valued both academics and extracurriculars, or rather, there was an atmosphere that just studying was boring, so I also devoted myself to my brass band club activities and hobbies. I often hung out with friends after school and on weekends, went to watch sports or plays, and did crafts and gardening at home. My high school years were when I established my own hobbies.

When I had the opportunity to visit the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology in high school, I was surprised by the breadth of research in the Department of Biosciences and Informatics. Some labs focused on small organisms like bacteria, while others studied the workings of the brain. Although I wanted to study biology, I hadn't decided which field of research I wanted to pursue, so I thought it was better to have a wide range of options. I was also interested in chemistry, so the Gakumon system [*], which allows you to decide your department in your second year, was also appealing. I'm glad I was able to take various classes in mathematics, physics, and chemistry in my first year to see if I was truly suited for biology. In addition, the availability of the teacher certification program was also a deciding factor. My mother is a high school English teacher, and I was also interested in education and wanted to get my teaching certification.

[*] Gakumon system: A unique system at the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology where students choose one of five "Gakumon" (divisions) at the time of admission. After enrolling, they gradually narrow down their field of study according to their interests and concerns, and decide on their department when advancing to their second year. Please note that the Gakumon system was changed for students entering the Faculty of Science and Technology in the 2020 academic year, and some of the departments that can be entered from each Gakumon have changed. For details on the Gakumon system, please refer to the link below.

A key feature of the Department of Biosciences and Informatics is the extremely wide range of topics covered in its classes. There is still much to be discovered in biology, and it is necessary to approach it using every possible academic discipline. That's why even after we were divided into departments in our second year, we still had classes in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and information science. Some classes were difficult, but now that I'm doing research, I find that they are useful in unexpected ways. It also helps to cultivate perspectives for thinking about biology from various angles, so I'm glad I was able to study a variety of fields. The laboratories are also diverse, with some conducting experiments by cultivating animals and cells, while others use programming for gene analysis and simulations. Also, the department is small, about the size of a high school class, so everyone knows each other. Within the Faculty of Science and Technology, the proportion of female students is also high; in my year, one-third are women. Perhaps another feature is that the small class size makes it easy to speak up and ask questions during class, leading to a fulfilling learning experience.

Of course, the number of classes I took increased, but I was able to balance them well with the classes in the Department of Biosciences and Informatics. I took about three weeks off from the lab for my teaching practicum, but I was able to obtain my teaching licenses for junior high and high school science. My views on education and society changed, and I'm glad I took the teacher certification program. The classes that were particularly impressive in the teacher certification program were the ones on student guidance and counseling. In the Department of Biosciences and Informatics, biology is the main focus, so there are not many opportunities to learn about human emotions and the structure of society. In that context, learning about the challenges children face and how to interact with them was a major catalyst in thinking about my career. Also, within the teacher certification program, I made friends from different departments and faculties. Some were aiming to be teachers, while others wanted to build schools. It was a great experience to learn diverse ways of thinking by meeting people who had various aspirations, even within the same field of education.

The intensive biology experiment class, one of the general education courses at the Faculty of Science and Technology, where we collected organisms in the sea at Miura, is a fond memory. We stayed there for about four nights during the summer vacation, attracting creatures with light in the sea at night and scooping them up with nets, or going out on a boat to collect plankton. It was stimulating to learn that even organisms I had never paid attention to before had names and various characteristics.

Other than that, the programming class is also memorable. At first, I couldn't program at all, and I always stayed behind after class to finish my assignments. But the TA [*] stayed with me and taught me, and after reviewing it many times at home, I gradually became able to do it. I was very happy when they told me in the final class that I had shown the most improvement. For those who have never programmed before, rest assured that you can learn it thoroughly in class.

[*] TA: Teaching Assistant. A graduate student who assists the course instructor.

I personally rent a plot in a community garden and grow various vegetables each season. I originally did gardening at home, but I started this as a change of pace during the COVID-19 pandemic when I couldn't go to the university. Growing vegetables is fun in itself, but when I go to the field, there are many people, including retirees and local residents, who give me vegetables and teach me how to grow them. It's also fun to talk with people of an age group I wouldn't normally interact with at university through agriculture. In addition, I have been working part-time for five years at a Juku that provides environmental education and food/agricultural education to elementary school students. We discuss environmental issues and do farm work in the fields. It's a stimulating and fun time to have hands-on learning experiences and discussions with children. I myself attended this Juku, and it was here that I learned about environmental issues and developed a desire to protect living things, so I would be happy if I could give back that experience to the children.

My research theme is the evolution of *E. coli*. Just as humans cannot live without consuming various metals like iron and zinc in their food, all living things, including *E. coli*, cannot live without metals. The required metals vary depending on the organism, but I am studying what kind of evolution occurs by cultivating *E. coli* with a large amount of a metal that it does not normally use. *E. coli* divides very quickly, about 2,500 times in 500 days, which is an incredible number of generations compared to humans, who go through about four generations in 100 years. I am studying *E. coli* that has been cultivated with a metal called ruthenium, and I have found that its size has become smaller compared to the original *E. coli*. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the evolved *E. coli* may have changed its method of utilizing metal elements compared to its ancestors. This is thought to be the effect of ruthenium, and it is becoming apparent that *E. coli* with characteristic properties may be born for each metal added. My current research may not be something that can be directly returned to society in an obvious way. But research is rooted in one's own interests and desire to learn. I hope that by pursuing research driven by the feeling that "I want to get closer to the evolution of living things. Evolution is interesting!", it will ultimately lead to something that benefits society.

The Laboratory of Biofunctional Chemistry, to which I belong, researches plastic-degrading bacteria, the design of non-natural protein molecules, and the evolution of *E. coli*. I had the opportunity to learn about evolution in an undergraduate class and was interested in it, but I thought I would not be able to witness the process of evolution in my lifetime. But I learned that with *E. coli*, I could witness sufficient evolution even in a few years, and I thought, isn't that amazing? That's why I chose this lab. I was also very attracted to the stance of my academic advisor, Senior Assistant Professor Ryoji Kawakami, who says, "research must first be *interesting* before it is useful."

Right now, I am broadening my horizons without narrowing down to a specific industry or job type, but I am interested in jobs as a civil servant, university staff, or in the education field. Through my research, teacher certification program, and part-time job experiences, I have felt firsthand that learning can expand one's future possibilities. On the other hand, I also learned that there are children who are in environments where they cannot learn sufficiently even if they want to due to various circumstances. In the future, I hope to be involved in creating a society and environment where everyone can learn what they want to learn.