Snow Brand, Meiji and Kagome announce novel probiotics which help to prevent influenza
At the 9th Annual Meeting oft he Japan Food Society for Immunology, independent announcements were made. Nikkei Biotech, October 17, 2013
UK Medical Council and JST initiate bilateral project on „next generation optical microscopy“
The program permits joint research on cutting-edge light microscopy and/or dynamic cell imaging, with the emphasis being on super-resolution imaging techniques to advance understanding of diseases of the nervous system. Financial support for each project is up to 15 million Yen for 3 years. JST news release, October 17, 2013
Daicel has started to sell S-equol as anti-aging material
Equol is a nonsteroidal estrogen. Only about 30-50% of people have intestinal bacteria that make equol. Equol may have beneficial effects on the incidence of prostate cancer, bone health, skin health and physiological changes during menopause. It is produced from soybeans. https://www.daicel.com/topics/pdf/131009.pdf
QP will release low molecular-weight hyaluronic acid by the end of the year
According to a report in Nikkei Biotech, QP announced at the Food Development Exhibition 2013 at Tokyo Big Sight to release „Hyalo-nano“ by Dec. 31, 2013. The product of m.w. 2000 has an improved permeability Nikkei Biotech, Oct. 16, 2013
NEDO starts „smart community demonstration project“ on eMobility in Lyon
Partners are the city of Lyon, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Motors, Citroen and Peugeot. At three locations in Lyon city fast chargers using the CHAdeMO method (rated output 50kw) will be installed. NEDO press release, Oct. 14, 2013
NEDO entrusts projects for rare-metal recycling to Re-Tem, Inc., and Hitachi, Ltd
The project of Lee Inc. is on Tantalum recycling from condensers, and of Hitachi on rare-earth magneto-recycling from electrical household appliances, electrical and IT equipment. NEDO press release, Oct. 11, 2013
Euglena Co. will sell Euglena-containing yoghurt in Japan
Euglena Co., a Tokyo start-up, announced that it will be selling a Euglena-containing yoghurt soon throughout Japan. The product is named „Euglena & Yoghurt“. Nikkan Kogyo, Oct. 11, 2013
Toshiba develops DNA chip for rapid detection of food poisoning bacteria
The plastic-based microfluidic chip works by amperometric detection and is dedicated to be used by laymen. Toshiba press release, October 3, 2013
Meiji University researchers succeed to develop SCID swine
By knocking out an IL2RG gene in somatic cells genetically modified by zinc finger nuclease-encoding mRNA piglets were obtained which can be used to study human disorders in immunodeficiency. Masahito WATANABE et al., PLoS ONE 8(10): e76478. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076478
RIKEN group discovers gene associated with lumbar disk degeneration (LDD)
A group around Dr IKEGAWA Shiro at RIKEN’s Integrated Biomedical Science Center has discovered by correlation analysis comprising 25.000 Japanese, Chinese and Finnish individuals including over 4.000 LDD cases that a SNP in CHST3 (carbohydrate sulfotransferase 3) – a gene involved in proteoglycan metabolism – is a strong candidate for the onset of intervertebral disc […]