https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101632.html A research team, consisting of Taisei Corporation, Saitama University, Chubu University, and Kazusa DNA Research Institute, succeeded in producing microalgae that produce free fatty acids outside the cells without introducing foreign genes, by suppressing or enhancing the expression of specific genes in the cyanobacterial strain Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. Conventional algae biofuel production involves […]
Kao Corp: gallic acid and 4,3-AHBA from glucose
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/04/12/10582/ At the JSBBA conference 2023, Kao has announced the production of gallic acid, a raw material for semiconductors and other products, and of 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoic acid (4,3-AHBA), a raw material for plastics, both from glucose. Corynebacteria are used for production, and a dedicated metabolic pathway has been constructed for each compound. Gallic acid is an […]
Plastics to fertilizer: guiding principles for fully bio-based polycarbonates
https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/announce/20230412/pdf/20230412.pdf https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/PY/D3PY00079F A research team led by Associate Professor Daisuke Aoki of Chiba University Poly has synthesised isosorbide carbonates (PICs) from non-toxic and biodegradable isosorbide (ISB), which is derived from glucose. PICs can be degraded by ammonolysis to give a mixture of isosorbide and urea, which can be directly used as a fertilizer. In this […]
A clinical support company tests ChatGPT for dialogues with patients
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/04/10/10569/ HOKUTO in Tokyo is a provider of clinical support apps for physicians. The company’s clinical support app “HOKUTO” https://hokuto.app/offers free access to search medical information such as guidelines and drug information, calculation tools such as dosage of antibacterial drugs according to renal function, and medical article databases (PubMed, etc.). As of February 2023, the […]
A human immunoreceptor recognises carbon nanotubes
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-023-01363-w CNTs have been used in a wide variety of fields as a next-generation nanomaterial with great potential. Some Multi-Walled CNTs (MWCNTs) have been reported to exhibit inflammatory toxicity similar to asbestos in animal studies. However, it was not known how MWCNTs are recognized in vivo and induce inflammation, nor whether similar inflammatory toxicity is […]
Brain tumor treatment with iPS cell-derived neural stem cells transfected with suicide genes?
iXgene, a startup from Keio University, is currently developing suicide gene-transfected iPS cell-derived neural stem cells for the treatment of malignant brain tumors. The tNSCs contain suicide fusion genes from yeast cytosine deaminase (CD) and uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (UPRT), which are introduced into iPS cells derived from a healthy donor using genome editing technology. The cells […]
Shimadzu and MyCan Technologies develop kit for febrile substance testing
Shimadzu Diagnostics and MyCan Technologies intend to jointly market in Japan and Europe a test kit for drug safety testing using human cells . The test aims to replace the febrile substance testing currently conducted on rabbits and horseshoe crabs with human cells. It uses immortalized myeloid cells (Mylc cells) developed by MyCan and named […]
Blick nach Asien 2023/04
Blick nach Asien 2023:04
Ajinomoto develops RNA pesticides manufactured in C. glutamicum
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/04/04/10547/ A research group at Ajinomoto has established a mass production system for RNA pesticides using RNA interference and has confirmed growth-inhibitory activity against pests in a joint study with the National Institute for Basic Biology in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. RNA interference (RNAi) is a phenomenon in which double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) acts specifically on RNA […]
2023/03 Suntory pioneers bowel analysis through gut sound recorded by smartphone
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/03/09/10478/ The Suntory Group has released “Gut Note,” a smartphone application utilizing gut sound analysis technology which records the sound of bowel movements through the iPhone’s microphone and analyzes it using artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the state of the bowel, and combines it with information such as frequency of bowel movements and condition of […]