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 […]
Arkray Co. releases kit for rapid detection of UGT1A1 SNPs, a marker for personalized anticancer drug tolerance
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 […]
RIKEN-Malaysian team develops PHA production in phototrophic cyanobacteria at high production efficiency.
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
Sony teams up with Emsli and Illumina to form P5 Corporation for genome information
The company will focus on a service platform to support individualized genomic information for Japanese customers Sony news release, January 23, 1014
Japan will introduce health function display on food from April, 2015
The new labelling system is presently discusse by the Consumer Agency and MAFF. Nikkei Biotech news release, January 22, 2014
Shindo Co. develops seamless LED-bearing “electronic textiles”, outdoor applications
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
Japanese market for domestic biotech industry grows by 3,7 % in 2013.
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
RIKEN team visualizes timeline of events in chloroplast during photosynthesis
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
RIKEN: accumulation of flavonoids protects plants from abiotic stress such as drought
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
Tsukuba group elucidates mechanism for aggravation of allergic diseases upon disturbance of gut bacteria by antibiotic ingestion
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