https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101866.html

Yokohama National University has opened a plant biomanufacturing unit for recombinant proteins, which functions in collaboration with AIST, Kajima Corporation, Denka Co., the University of Tokyo, and Hokkaido University. It will develop technologies from plant cultivation to gene expression and extraction and purification of target substances.

The center is intended as a core center for next-generation plant biomanufacturing which will promote the creation of new industries in Japan. The production of useful proteins using plants has many advantages, such as a negative CO2 balance, a low risk of contamination with pathogens and toxins, low production costs, and low initial capital investment. A method using a transient expression system that can produce a large amount of protein in just a few days is becoming mainstream, and the development and construction of commercial plant production factories of tens of thousands of square meters has been promoted.

The Yokohama Center will develop a consistent extraction and purification system for plant cultivation, introduction of genes for target substance production, crushing of the plant body that produces the target substance to microfiltration, and extraction equipment that can extract only the target substance with high purity while suppressing impurity contamination. In addition, it will develop industrial human resources through lectures and practical training.