Kawasaki Heavy Industries installs cell culture robot at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, under NEDO contract
The program aims at promoting cooperation between Japan and SE Asia on advanced technologies NEDO news release, Sept. 30, 2013
Kyoto University iPS cell laboratory probes immunoreaction of self-iPS cells
After transplanting neurocytes from a monkey to the monkey’s brain, only minor immune reactions were observed. Asuka Marizane et al., Stem Cell Reports10.1016/j.stemcr.2013.08.007
JST adopts 15 projects within ALCA program (advanced low carbon technology)
The program is supported with 10 – 30 million Yen per year for up to 10 years. JST press release, Sept. 29, 2013
KKR buys Panasonic Healthcare for 1,67 billion USD
Panasonic Healthcare is a comprehensive healthcare company focusing on three core businesses: In Vitro Diagnostics, Medicom, and Biomedical. KKR said the companies will leverage their respective business resources, and aim for further growth of Panasonic Healthcare. China Industrial Biotech Consortium, Sept. 30, 2013
Marukan Vinegar Co. receives SBJ paper award for production of branched-chain amino acids by Gluconacetobacter europaeus
Mutants of this strain were shown to produce high levels of .alpha.-aminobutyric acid, a valine analogue. Society of Biotechnology Japan press release, Sept. 27, 2013
Biotech-related budgetary request of 6 Japanese ministries is 393 billion Yen, up 20 %
According to a detailed and published analysis of Nikkei Biotech, all ministries involved (education, industry, health, agriculture, environment and security) ask for significant increases. Nikkei Biotech, Sept. 23, 2013
RIKEN team elucidates fine structure of lignin by 13C-labelling, providing insight into lignin degradation
A team at RIKEN Yokohama has used 13C-NMR in multidimensional solution NMR to elucidate clues for lignin degradation to valuable chemicals Takanori KOMATSU et al., Anal. Chem. Sept. 6, 2013, DOI: 10.1021/ac402197h
Diacetyl is a major constituent of body odor in young males
The production of this odor can be controlled by flavonoid-containing essences Hiroshi Matsui et al., Mandom Co., lecture 2W-Ea08 at 65th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fermentation and Bioengineering, Hiroshima, Sept. 19, 2013
Kikkoman presents novel enzyme assay for rapid early diagnosis of diabetics
The test is based on glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) as a marker, which is preoteolytically digested and selectively oxidized by a proprietary fructosyl peptide oxidase developed by Kikkoman. The procedure won a prize at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Fermentation and Bioengineering presently held in Hiroshima. Kikkoman press release, Sept. 12, 2013
Annual Meeting of the Society for Biotechnology, Japan, held in Hiroshima
The SBJ has some thousand members and is much smaller, but also more focused on biotech as compared tot he 10.000 member Agricultural Chemical Society. The program is available under https://www.sbj.or.jp/2013/wp-content/uploads/file/program/2013/2013program(1).pdf (in Japanese) SBJ website September 2013