What sort of place is the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry?

The department has two great aspects. First, it provides opportunities to study all four branches of chemistry, including physical chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, and inorganic chemistry. Second, through the power of chemistry, it strives to clarify the full range of life processes, from the molecular and atomic level to biological mechanisms.

What made you decide to join the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry?

Before entering Waseda, I studied plant and animal macrobiology at Shanghai Normal University, and frankly found the studies unsatisfying. I discussed this with my advising professor, and decided to go to school in Japan when he told me that “Japan conducts world top-level research in bioscience.”

So, of all the schools in Japan, what made you decide on Waseda?

While I was studying Japanese and preparing for entrance exams after coming to Japan, I was hugely impressed by the open campus event that Waseda held. I saw a super computer at the laboratory of Professor Hiromi Nakai, and I was astounded by its size. It was much too big to fit into a small university classroom, and it made a big impact.

Now that you are in Waseda, how do you feel about it?

Of course the level of education is high, and I also enjoy the range of opportunities for doing experiments. One particularly memorable experiment involved mixing genetic matter containing green fluorescent protein (GFP) into together with E. coli, resulting in fluorescent bacteria. The sight of fluorescent E. coli made a big impression on me.
Osamu Shimomura, Professor Emeritus at the Boston University School of Medicine, first extracted GFP from Aequorea victoria, a bioluminescent jellyfish, and later developed technology for inserting GFP into genetic material, making it possible to follow the movement of cancer cells. For this achievement, Professor Shimomura was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008.

What sort of research do you want to undertake in the future?

I would like to become involved in bio-informatics; more specifically, on unravelling the relationship between genetics and disease, predicting disease, identifying genes that carry disease, and applying such discoveries to drug discovery.
Links have already been discovered between genetics and diseases such as leukemia and Alzheimer’s. Continuing such research, I would like to use genetics, DNA analysis, and so forth to start a venture business in the fields of stem cells and vaccines.

How do you like living in Japan?

Life was quite difficult during the two years while I was working on exchange and entrance exams, as I had to take part-time jobs to meet tuition and living expenses.
Things are much easier now, as I received some tuition exemptions from the university and have been able to take advantage of a program that allows use of employee dormitory facilities. The dormitory program lets me use employee quarters that are not currently occupied. The Waseda residence center introduced me to this.

Please give us a message for those thinking about entering Waseda, including exchange students.

Waseda provides opportunities in addition to scholarship. Presently, I am cooperating with friends in the department on planning for “WASEDA VISION 150,” which will mark the 150th anniversary of Waseda’s founding. Under the proposed plan, the students will run the cafeteria with the goals of developing independence and acquiring on-site learning. In a place like this, you can find many friends. So I’d like to see people take the initiative in taking the chance and riding on the spiral of opportunity.