https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101606.html In order to address labor shortages in Japan, where the working-age population is declining more rapidly than anywhere else in the world, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a digital twin that can sustainably improve productivity and reduce the burden on people. The digital twin reflects in a […]

CureApp began developing Digital Therapeutics (DTx) to assist in the treatment of alcoholism by non-specialists. By expanding opportunities for alcoholism treatment outside of specialized medical facilities, CureApp aims to improve access to treatment and achieve early intervention. The app is designed to help people get sober. The app is intended for mildly alcoholic patients who […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/01/25/10342/ Singapore’s Umami Meats is developing cultured fish meat such as eel, tuna, and snapper using cell culture technology. The development targets mainly high-end fish that cannot be farmed. NUProtein, a Tokyo startup, excels in growth factors for cell-free protein synthesis. Umami Meats has a research system that uses digital models of cultured fish meat with artificial […]

https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/announce/20230112-2/index.html Graph: Structure of a methane oxidation catalyst with two-story molecules adsorbed on graphite in a stacking configuration and its reaction active species. A team around Yasuyuki Yamada at Nagoya University has dramatically increased the methane oxidation activity of catalytic molecules by utilizing their interaction with graphite, and achieved a catalytic activity for methane oxidation comparable […]

https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/announce/20230126-3/pdf/20230126-3.pdf A research team around Kinji Fukuda at Keio University has found that Bacteroides uniformis was abundant in the intestines of Japanese long-distance runners and was associated with their running times. Bacteroides uniformis produces short-chain fatty acids such as acetic acid and propionic acid in the intestine, which may contribute to endogenous glucose production in the liver, […]

https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/announce/20230127/pdf/20230127.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-04367-9 A team from the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo University of Science has cultured a new type of microalgae from the water in a tank where goldfish and killifish were kept, and identified its genome sequence. The photosynthetic microalgae has only 7629 genes, the lowest number of genes among all freshwater green […]

https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101604.html Meti’s project house Nedo is sponsoring a collaborative project to improve the performance and reduce the cost of thermoelectric modules made of iron (Fe), aluminum (AI) and silicon (Si) (FAST materials) that do not use rare and toxic metals. The consortium has now unveiled a 2 cm2 ceramic thermoelectric module that harvests enough power […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/12/21/10284/ https://iddk.co.jp/app-def/S-102/iddk_wp/?page_id=3846&lang=en The Tokyo-based startup IDDK has developed and commercialized a new microscope that combines optical and semiconductor technologies. A sample is placed on the black part in the center for observation. In the back is the base for controlling the microscope including peripheral devices. With a resolution of 1.2 µm, it is said to […]

https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101596.html Under a contract from NEDO, Renesas has developed an AI chip with a dynamic reconfiguration processor (DRP) that handles complex tasks in real time. The power efficiency is 10 trillion operations per second (TOPS) per Watt consumed. This makes it possible to install the chip in a variety of devices such as security cameras, […]

Kyoto Prefectural University has begun offering a strain of “short rice” that is easy to use for plant-based material production and other applications. It is suitable for cultivation in plant factories because it can significantly reduce the cultivation space. A university start-up Miraishoku Research and Development Center will be established, where it will be marketed […]

https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101598.html The University of Tokyo and INPEX Co., partners in NEDO’s project “Technology Development for the Production of Key Chemicals Using Carbon Dioxide as Raw Material” and with the support of the Research Association for Artificial Photosynthetic Chemistry Process Technology (ARPChem)  have won the first place out of 22 teams  in the competition “Fuel from […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/12/01/10210/ “Proposal on Rules for the Sale of Cellular Foods and Legislation to be Developed in Japan” The The scope of the proposal covers meat, eggs, milk, and seafood produced by cell culture, collectively referred to as “cellular foods”. The report emphasizesthat these foods have fewer disadvantages, such as environmental impact, than conventional livestock-derived products, […]

https://www.riken.jp/press/2022/20221201_1/index.html A research group led by Yoshihiko Tomofuji, Ph.D. (Genetic Statistics), Osaka University , and Zuzo Okada, Ph.D. (Genetic Statistics / Team Leader, Systems Genetics Team, RIKEN Center for Biomedical Research has identified the intestinal microflora and reconstructed bacterial and viral genome sequences of 787 Japanese. Through integrated analysis of the newly developed database and […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/11/04/10118/ Ergothioneine has antioxidant activity and is believed to improve brain function, thus of interest for  applications in functional foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Ergothioneine is produced only in very small amounts by mushrooms and microorganisms. In the joint project, Nagase produces ergothioneine from highly genetically modified Escherichia coli. Hitachi Plant Services  uses computing and machine learning to […]

https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101587.html Under a contract from NEDO, Microwave Chemical Co. has completed Japan’s first general-purpose microwave demonstration facility for the recovery of monomers from polymers with a processing capacity of 1 ton per day. In 2021, the company had completed a small-scale demonstration facility with a processing capacity of about 5 kg per hour. The process will be further scaled […]

https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101590.html According to Japan’s “Sixth Basic Energy Plan” of October 2021 hydrogen and ammonia power generation is expected to account for about 1% of Japan’s power mix in FY2030. Following this target, NEDO and INPEX Corp. will construct a “blue ammonia” facility at the INPEX Higashi-Kashiwazaki gas field in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture. A demonstration […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/11/08/10133/ METI will allocate 300 billion yen (2 billion €) to a new fund that will support companies that develop manufacturing technologies using bioprocesses based on waste and other raw materials. Specifically, it is envisioned that microorganisms will be used to produce fiber, ethanol, resins, and other products from waste clothing, municipal solid waste, food […]

https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/announce/20221017/pdf/20221017.pdf Kosuke Sato and colleagues have embedded “edible information” into cookies using a 3D printer. 2D codes, or AR markers, are created through cavities when the food is printed and remain intact during baking. They can be read again when the back of the cookies are exposed to high-frequency light, and not only store data […]

The team of Isao Oishi at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Osaka has developed an “egg factory” which produces up to  500 mg of recombinant proteins such as human interferon beta, cytokines, and a human HER2 antibody per chicken egg. The method is based on knocking in the target gene […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/10/27/10073/ https://en.cyfusebio.com Cyfuse was established in 2010 and is focused on 3D cell technology that uses a bio 3D printer to laminate cell clumps (spheroids) consisting of an average of 10,000 cells in a 3D manner without the use of artificial scaffolds. The company has 3 business fields: to develop a pipeline of regenerative medicine […]

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add0226 Researchers at the National Institute for Material Sciences have formed highly stretchable and self-healing polymer gels solely by physical entanglements of ultrahigh–molecular weight (UHMW) polymers fabricated through a facile one-step process. Radical polymerization of vinyl monomers in ionic liquids under very low initiator concentration conditions produced UHMW polymers of more than 106 g/mol with […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/10/14/10030/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unvKIcKTBuY Osaka University’s “Human Metabolic Disease Research Center” will establish a “digital twin” for organoids  created mainly from iPS cells, and their diseases.  The response of organoids to disease states will be comprehensively investigated using multi-omics analysis, single-cell analysis, quantum sensing, The bio-digital twins created will be shared by constructing a new metaverse space. The […]

The Hydrogen Ministerial, a global ministerial dedicated to hydrogen, is working towards the Global Action Agenda goal of 10 million fuel cell systems and 10,000 hydrogen stations in 10 years, with more than 540,000 fuel cell systems installed and more than 1,100 hydrogen stations installed. Reported progress and added an additional goal of at least […]

http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2022/0926/c95952-10151765.html The “2021-22 China-Japan High-Level Researchers Exchange Meeting (Decarbonization and Growth),” jointly organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Tsinghua University, took place on September 21 in Beijing. Nearly 30 researchers and business representatives from China and Japan participated in the activity, which focused on […]

NEDO has adopted five projects to identify new technologies to achieve the Moonshot Goal 4 “Achieve sustainable resource recycling for global environmental regeneration by 2050”. The five adopted projects will determine the potential of technology to efficiently capture and absorb CO2 by artificially accelerating the natural carbon dioxide absorption capacity (artificial acceleration of natural processes). […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/report/16/011900001/22/09/21/00447/ “Wastewater Surveillance” is an epidemiological survey method that measures nucleic acids of pathogenic microorganisms, including viruses, in sewage to determine the occurrence and prevalence of various diseases. Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Regional Institutes of Health have conducting polio environmental water surveillance since  2013 to monitor the spread of poliovirus, and […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/09/21/09955/ Sekisui Chemical plans to commercialize a technology that uses microorganisms to convert combustible garbage into ethanol by 2025. In April 2022, a 1/10th demonstration plant in Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, began operating, marking the start of the final stage of verification testing toward practical application. About 800 l ethanol are produced from 20 t of […]

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/09/20/09950/ Ecologgie https://ecologgie.com/en/ produces food ingredients using edible crickets and have started to commercialize a chocolate containing cricket powder. The company will begin offering the product via crowdfunding and aims to sell it at retail stores in the future. The company has contracted with Cambodian farmers to buy locally produced crickets and process them into powder and […]

https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101572.html In collaboration with the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NEDO has jointly engaged in a “moonshot-type R&D project for directly capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere on the scale of several kilograms per day. It is planned to design a pilot-scale direct air capture (DAC) test apparatus and evaluate […]

https://cureapp-en.blogspot.com/2022/05/worlds-first-medical-device-regulatory.html https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/22/09/03/09888/ On September 1, 2022, CureApp launched the “CureApp HT Hypertension Treatment Assistance App”, an application to assist in the treatment of hypertension. The six-month program is priced at 2,910 yen for the first month for patients who pay 30% of the total cost, and 2,490 yen per month for the following five months. In […]