SUNTORY INSTITUTE FOR BIOORGANIC RESEARCH

SUNTORY INSTITUTE FOR BIOORGANIC RESEARCH
DIRECTOR
SHOICHI KUSUMOTO

In 2006, Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research celebrated its 60th anniversary. During these sixty years history, the institute has been developing along with the growth of Japan after the last world war, where we experienced great advances in science and technology and achieved remarkable progress in the dramatically changing international circumstances. The research performed at our institute has expanded out of the original field of organic chemistry, particularly natural products chemistry, to encompass a much broader range, including biology and life science. Hence, we are conducting basic research into bioorganic science to understand life system in terms of the functions of molecules involved, with the spirit of the search for “Etwas Neues”*, upon which the institute was founded.

With regard to the targets of research, we have been studying increasingly diversified molecules. Owing to recent remarkable advances of experimental techniques in life sciences such as those of molecular biology, and dramatic progresses of analytical instruments, we are now able to deal with a broad range of targets, from relatively small organic molecules to receptors that recognize them, transporters and other proteins, from the level of molecules and molecular complexes to actual physiological events occurring in cells or even organisms. We have actually begun new efforts to understand dynamic process of physiological events mediated by molecules.

Our institute consists of four research units as described below: the researchers belonging to the individual units devote themselves to studies in their respective areas of expertise. Major research themes are described in the separate sections below. A characteristic feature of our institute resides in its internal system to cope with challenging issues with close cooperation of researchers from different disciplines whenever necessary. For example, we have recently obtained stimulating results from a study of iron up-take in gramineous plants mediated by a phytosiderophore molecule, mugineic acid, and its transporter, by collaboration of biochemists, synthetic organic chemists and structural biologists. With these experiences, and thanks to the availability of well-developed experimental methods in molecular biology, we feel that now is the best time to implement our research activities to understand the life process from the viewpoint of molecular functions. We are also expanding our research in new fields such as physiological events mediated by lipid molecules.

With excellent facilities and equipments, as well as a personal evaluation system in practical operation after several years of testing, we believe that our institute is now a place that motivates all researchers here. It is our wish that the institute will continue to score remarkable achievements contributing not only to science, but also to society, as a unique research organization that attracts outside young researchers.

＊“Etwas Neues”: A German phrase meaning something new; often mentioned to represent the basic attitude for good scientists by Dr. Munio Kotake, the first chairman of the Institute of Food Chemistry (precedent to the present institute), established by Keizo Saji. When he was working at University of Freiburg, Germany, in the laboratory of Professor Heinrich Wieland (1877-1957, 1927 Nobel laureate in chemistry), Prof. Wieland used to visit laboratories twice daily, in the morning and afternoon, asking the question “Etwas Neues? (Have you found anything new today?) to the laboratory members. Young Kotake was deeply impressed by the repeatedly asked short question as the teaching of the essence of science, that is, always to seek “something new”.