Accordint to an interview with researchers of Ricoh’s Future Technical Research Institute, the company will accelerate research to create human tissues by arranging human cells in 3D, using bio 3D printers. Nikkei Biotech news release, December 26, 2016
Kyoto City builds large wood biomass power station
The output will be 6800 kW and provide eletricity for 15,000 households in Maizuru, Kyoto city. 90 % of the raw material used are plywood chips regionally produced. The power plant will start operation in April 2020. China Bio news release, December 28, 2016
RIKEN team prepares moving images of bacteriorhodopsin in action using XFEL technology
Three-dimensional protein structures change when proteins works, but observation with conventional X-ray crystal structure analysis is difficult due to radiation damage during measurement. RIKEN’s XFEL (x-ray free electron laser) is not only bright but also has a short emission time of less than 10 femtoseconds. Bacteriorhodopsin microcrystals were continuously ejected with high accuracy in space […]
Canon completes acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems for 40 billion USD
TOSHIBA Medical Systems is a subsidiary of TOSHIBA Corporation, which specializes in the manufacture and sale of medical imaging equipment such as MRI and X-ray inspection instruments. In March 2016, financial fraud problems were exposed and Toshiba announced the sale of the subsidiary. Fujifilm Holding tried to acquire, but Canon eventually won and paid 665,5 […]
Asahi Glass plans to acquire Denmark’s CMC Biologics S/A, a biopharmaceutical manufacturer
The acquisition amount is about 60 billion Yen and still needs approval by antitrust law authorities Nikkei Biotech news release, December 22, 2016
Osaka group discusses the development of transgenic luminescent trees for street illumination
Plants that shine with fluorescence” need excitation light, so it is difficult to use them as lighting, for example, but plants shining with “luminescence do not require excitation light as they turn the energy of chemical substances into light. The group of Kenji NAGAI at Osaka University studies possibilities to develop highly luminescent trees which […]
Toshiba develops „brain-chip“ for deep learning (AI)
The 1.9 mm „brain chip“, which integrates 32,000 electronic circuits, comes with a computing and storage unit. It allows parallel processing of a large number of continuous analog signals, the data characteristics of which are processed and submitted to complex learning tasks. China Bio news release, Decembeer 22, 2016
NEDO-supported team develops self-regenerating photocatalyst sheet for artificial photosynthesis
ARPChem, the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo University of Science have jointly developed a photocatalytic sheet composed of bismuth vanadate and a conductive layer of tin and nickel with oxygen generation function. When this photocatalyst sheet is placed in water, a nickel iron mixed oxide (NiFeO x) immobilized on the photocatalyst surface functions as […]
NEDO starts projects on floating offshore wind power stations
As there are few shallow coastlines in Japan, the floating offshore windmills in the 2 – 5 MW class are intended to speed up windpower generation. Insted of the usual yaw system on three blade systems, a less expensive single-point mooring technology and a two blade system will be used. This technology aims to achieve […]
Euglena Co. succeeds in production of „bio-succinic acid“ using Euglena algae
In cooperation with Meiji University, Kobe University and RIKEN, Euglena Co. has managed to define culture conditions (dark/anaerobic) under which Euglena gracilis secretes up to 870 mg per liter culture medium. Using different conditions, L-lactic acid could also be secreted. JST news release, December 21, 2016