Our ultimate goal is the clinical application of active hypometabolism. We aim to provide effective and meaningful treatment for several issues in medicine that stem from a high basal metabolic rate of human or human tissues. Specifically, medical transportation, tissue preservation, and the safety of general anesthesia can be drastically improved if we can apply active hypometabolism safely to humans.
The team started in April 2015 and led by Dr.Genshiro A Sunagawa since then. It is one of the subgroups in the Laboratory of Retinal Regeneration in Kobe RIKEN (all members are here). The most well-known animals of active hypometabolism are hibernators which are not ideal research subjects due to their unavailability and lack of genetic resources. Instead, we use the house mouse (Mus Musculus). Mouse do not hibernate but they do enter daily torpor, and needless to say, they are highly usable in terms of genetic engineering and many other latest genetic technologies.
Student Programs
We are excited to take part in the training of students who will go on to be the next leaders in the field of hypometabolic medicine. We currently have two graduate students involved in two major projects in our group. If you are interested in changing the future of medicine, please contact Dr.Sunagawa by email (genshiro.sunagawa@riken.jp).