School of Medicine- Course Introduction
Biology
Departments of Liberal Arts (General Arts Program)
In this course, we teach biology to first-year School of Medicine students and two faculty members are conducting the following three research projects.
- To truly understand the human body, it is necessary to know how vertebrates have evolved, but many mysteries remain about the early appearance and evolutionary process of vertebrates' shapes. The earliest vertebrates to appear on Earth were primitive jawless fish called agnathomorphs, of which only lampreys and hagfish survive today. By comparing the developmental process of the brains and sensory organs of these two species with other vertebrates, we are trying to clarify the appearance and evolutionary process of early vertebrates (Associate Professor Sugawara, Biology).
- Most organisms reproduce sexually, and our goal is to clarify the differentiation process of germ cells, the source of gametes. We will experimentally create female diploid and triploid embryos and compare them with normal embryos to clarify the differentiation process of germ cells and gonads (Professor Yamazaki, Department of Biology).
- Many microorganisms (called resident bacteria) exist in the human body, oral cavity and digestive tract, and coexist with humans. In the oral cavity, a "biofilm" derived from these microorganisms is formed on the surface of the teeth, which can cause caries (tooth decay) and periodontal disease. Currently, we are focusing on several types of oral bacteria and investigating how they are involved in biofilm formation in collaboration with Kagawa University, School of Medicine. In this research, I am in charge of analysis using fluorescence microscopes and electron microscopes (Professor Yamazaki, Chair of Biology).
Course Information
- Professor
- Hisashi Yamazaki
- Associate Professor
- Fumiaki Sugawara
- TEL
- 0798-45-6375
- FAX
- 0798-45-6383