Communicating with professors and students who are engaged in research fields that are outside your area of expertise is the major advantage of WISE-SSS
Exploring valuable lactic acid bacteria in Japanese pickles
My research field is in microorganisms and bioinformatics, and I am doing the research with the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Japanese pickles. LAB are reported to be able to stimulate the immune cells to produce various cytokines, and this immunoregulatory ability is functional in the human gut. It is previously reported that LAB from Korean Kimchi and Chinese Suancai showed such function in vitro experiments, however, few observations of similar ability were reported on LAB from Japanese pickles. Therefore, I want to explore the immunomodulatory ability of LAB from Japanese pickles in combination with the genome information using my own algorithm.
Currently, I am mainly implementing analysis by using a computer. First, I performed the cytokine measurement experiments and discovered the immunomodulatory active bacteria collected by colleagues. Next, I use the algorithm to detect the potential gene involved in the stimulation of production of cytokines on the basis of genomes. In the future, based on the detected potential genes, I hope to build a machine learning model for the prediction of the potential immunomodulatory LAB before performing the cytokine measurement experiments.
Expecting positive effects on future research
In WISE-SSS, there are many students in electronics and information technology fields, but there aren’t many students from biology backgrounds. Many lectures are about quantum physics, smart city, etc., which are not directly related to my research field, but I feel that the biggest advantage of WISE-SSS is that you get to communicate with people engaged in research fields outside your area of expertise. Most importantly, many students have a positive aggressiveness, which is critical for being a researcher. I have a relaxed personality, so I am very inspired by them.
In the program, I remember the “Super Smart Society Global Forum” the most. The first time I participated in the forum, I only listened to the lectures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When I participated the second time, I had a face-to-face meeting and saw poster presentations. It was a valuable experience to see posters in various formats.
Profile
Yiting Liu
Liu was born in Sichuan Province, China in 1995. After graduating from Jining Medical University, she came to Japan in 2018. She completed her master’s program in Life Science and Technology Course, Department of Life Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2021. Currently, she is in her third year of the doctoral program of Life Science and Technology Course, Department of Life Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology.
