Window to Japan
T1r belongs to the class C G-protein-coupled receptors which perceive most of major sweet and umami taste substances. Using RIKEN’s synchrotron radiation facility Spring-8, putative binding pockets for these substances in the heterodimer proteins were identified. RIKEN news release, May 24, 2017
Following a basic agreement of Sept. 2010 on cooperative activities, NEDO and BMBF have signed a 3 years MOU to promote bilateral collaborative research in addition to exchanging information on next-generation storage battery technologies and exchanging researchers in non-competitive areas, strengthening further cooperation between the two countries. NEDO news release, June 24, 2017
In experiments with HeLa cells, the miR-Cas9 switch developed by CirA controlled genome editing according to intracellular miRNA activity. As a result, genome editing was limited to HeLa cells only in a cell population consisting of HeLa and iPS cells. As this procedure is based on synthetic RNA, the risk of damaging DNA is reduced, […]
According to Nipro’s president Yoshihiko Sano during a financial results briefing, Nipro has entered into a license agreement with Sapporo Medical University and develops autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for the treatment of cerebral infarction and spinal cord injury. The company will apply for approval in 2017 including manufacturing capacities. Nikkei Biotech news […]
During a business results briefing, it was reported that Kyorin Pharmaceuticals is developing iPS cell-derived alveolar epithelial cells, jointly with Kyoto University, to explore drug discovery targets Nikkei Biotech news release, May 19, 2017
The groups of Midiko SODEOKA and Shisei TSUKIJI have found that the known fuction of coronatine, a toxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae and an analog of methyl jasmonic acid which causes stomata to re-open after a pathogen-associated plant response, is mediated by a new bypass mechanism involving the endoplasmic reticulum. This opens the opportunity to […]
The team of Matsuhisa NAOJI at the University of Tokyo has found that silver nanoparticles silver nanoparticles are formed naturally merely by mixing silver flakes of micrometer size with rubber and lead to a stretchable material with a conductivity of 4972 S/cm which remains high at 935 S/cm when extended to 5 times the orginal […]
The NEDO industrial consortium on “unused thermal energy utilization technology” has developed a double-lift absorption freezer capable of recovering heat at about twice the temperature difference. This is considered an important step for waste energy use since presently more than half of the primary energy is not utilized in the transportation, industry and civilian sectors, […]
The program which is supported by more than a dozen companies will focus on the following topics: 1. Performance evaluation standards, 2. improvement of energy conservation performance, 3. navigation management systems and collision avoidance technologies, 4. Promotion of international standards for robots and drones. The project period is five years from FY 2017 to FY […]
Mrs Maki KAWAI, a physical chemist with roots at the University of Tokyo and RIKEN, now director at the National Institute for Molecular Science near Nagoya, will lead the 34.000 member society in FY 2018 and 2019. This is the first time for a woman to become chairman of CSJ which was founded in 1878. […]