Shigeharu MORIYA
Unit Leader, Biosphere Oriented Biology Research Unit
Doctor of Science. Currently a fulltime researcher at RIKEN’s Kudo Environmental Molecular Biology Laboratory, and a visiting researcher at the graduate school of Yokohama City University. Formerly a researcher at the Bio-recycle project, Japan Science and Technology Agency.
■Message for future scientists
The first thing you can do is to look around and observe the living creatures around you. Don’t assume there aren’t any, but rather assume that you just can’t see them. Before I started studying algae, I did some diving off Odaiba, in Tokyo Bay. The seawater was murky and I couldn’t see very well, but when I analyzed the seawater I collected, I found there were many microorganisms living in it. That is proof that there are many creatures living in an environment receiving only weak sunlight. It will take some time to fully understand the roles these creatures play in the ecosystem, but the pleasure and the experience of being the first to discover something in that world sparks a new fire in any investigative mind.
To fully understand an ecosystem and the many living things within it, individuals and species, that interact with each other, we need the cooperation of experts from different fields. It is important not to bury yourself in a narrow and familiar area but to make friends and exchange opinions with all sorts of people. At RIKEN, there is a comprehensive research infrastructure combining diverse biochemical research approaches. And a knowledge network has started to come together of expertise that transcends the boundaries between various fields. New discoveries are more easily made when people in different fields meet and work together.