Researchers Report

Atsushi Furukawa（University of Oxford）

The Division of Structural Biology (STRUBI), University of Oxford

I’m working in STRUBI as an Academic visitor. In Srubi, I perform the structural analysis of the proteins, such as HIV-2 glycoprotein, Env, by Electorn Microscopy (EM), which is supervised by Dr. Juha T Huiskonen as well as crystallographic work, which is supervised by Dr. David Stuart. As you may know, “the development of Cryo-EM” was selected as the Nobel prize in chemistry in 2017. The circumstance of Cryo-EM is dramatically changed day-by-day in the terms of its developmental speed, such as atomic resolution and technics. I can now operate an electron microscopy, which I couldn’t operate by myself in Hokkaido University. Therefore, I’m spending very vulnerable time here. I also could perform crystallization experiment smoothly because that many equipment and system for crystallization are suitably set up.


In front of a crystallization robot In front of a cryo-EM
In front of a crystallization robot In front of a cryo-EM

When I was writing a paper here, I had a chance to get very vulnerable advices of paper writing from a researcher. Besides, I feel that people here often discuss when they start projects and write a scientific paper. I want to make use of these experiences for future works.

In the end, the experience of this one-year in Oxford and United Kingdom is unforgettable and precious for my family. I appreciate the principle investigator of this project, Prof. Katsumi Maenaka, and other lab members including students who I’m supervising.


A holiday-Octopus dumping party A holiday -In front of Radcliffe Camera
A holiday-Octopus dumping party A holiday -In front of Radcliffe Camera