Window to Japan
A team around CA Vacanti at Harvard Medical School and researchers at RIKEN’s Institute for Developmental Biology in Kobe have found that mouse lymphocytes can be turned into pluripotent cells after a short stress at lowered pH. STAP cells (for stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) could be expanded in vitro and, if injected into blastocysts, efficiently […]
UDP glucuronosyltransferase (UGT1A1) is a metabolic enzyme important in the medication with irinotecan, a DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor and drug used for the treatment of lung or colon cancer. In patients with UGT1A1*6 and UGT1A1*28 genotype, there is a possibility that due to a decrease in enzyme activity , serious side effects such as diarrhea […]
Using pathway engineering in cyanobacteria (Synechocystis sp.), a production efficiency of > 14 % based on CO2 supply was achieved. Addition of acetate increased PHA accumulation to 41 %. Nyok-Sean LAU et al., PlOS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086368
The company will focus on a service platform to support individualized genomic information for Japanese customers Sony news release, January 23, 1014
The new labelling system is presently discusse by the Consumer Agency and MAFF. Nikkei Biotech news release, January 22, 2014
Shindo Co., a textile company located in Fukui Prefecture, has developed textiles incorporating soft LED ribbons. The textiles contain very soft ribbon-wired LEDs manufactured through a MEMS processing technology which ensures softness, water and heat protection. The textiles are proposed for sportsware applications. JST news release, January 21, 2014
The market size is now estimated at 2.814,4 billion Yen (~28 billion €). Recombinant products have a 60 % share in this market. Nikkei Biotech news release, January 21, 2014
Using the moss Physcomitrella patens as a model organism and a fluorescence confocal laser microscope as a tool, the time-resolved structural changes of thylakoid membranes during illumination were observed. Iwai, M., Yokono, M., Nakano, A. "Visualizing structural dynamics of thylakoid membranes" Scientific Reports, 2014, doi: 10.1038/srep03768
A group at RIKEN’s Environmental Resources Science Center has shown that overexpression of flavonol glycoside and anthocyanin production pathways in Arabidopsis led to higher oxidation and drought tolerance. Experiments are now planned with tomatos Ryo NAKABAYASHI, The Plant Journal, 2013, doi: 10.1111/tpj.12388
Using a transgenic mouse system, the group of Professor Akira SHIBUYA of Tsukuba University has found that gut dysbiosis initiated by dosing antibiotics and leading to fungal growth in the intestine promotes M2 macrophage polarization and allergic airway inflammation via fungi-induced PGE2 JST news release, January 16, 2014