News
Our news cover the latest topics, as retrieved from Japanese-language press releases and other information sources.
The list is limited to the latest 30 entries. For older news, please use the button below.
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101656.html The City University of Kitakyushu and HiBD Research Institute have jointly developed a technology for the commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using the patented HiJET technology that conforms to “Annex 2” of ASTM D7566, the international standard for Sustainable Aviation Fuel. This technology uses animal and vegetable fats and oils such as waste […]
GEI opens Biofoundry Manufacturing Plant
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/06/06/10774/ https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101654.html On June 2, 2023, Green Earth Institute inaugurated the Biofoundry Research Institute, part of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Biofoundry Project, at the Mitsui Chemicals Mobara Branch Plant in Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture. NEDO’s biopharmaceutical foundry project aims to establish and demonstrate the technologies necessary to build biomanufacturing using […]
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101651.html NEDO has started the world’s first ammonia fuel mixing test using an actual marine 4-stroke engine with an 80% ammonia fuel mixing ratio, which is planned to be installed on an actual vessel. IHI Power Systems is in charge of the development. The actual engine and its peripheral equipment will undergo operational tests to […]
Singapore Umami Meats develops “cultured fish meat”
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/05/15/10688/ Singapore-based Umami Meats, a developer of cultured fish meat, has developed cultured fish fillets using a 3D printer in collaboration with Israel-based Steakholder Foods. The two companies held a tasting event in Israel on the same day, and while efforts to develop cultured beef using 3D printers are underway in Japan, the development of […]
Moderna and IBM use quantum computing and MolFormer-XL, a generative AI, for mRNA medicine
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/05/02/10648/ Moderna and IBM announced on April 20, 2023 that they have entered into an agreement to collaborate on the design of safe and effective mRNA medicines. Under the agreement, Moderna plans to leverage next-generation technologies such as quantum computing and generative AI (Generative AI) to accelerate progress in mRNA drug research and development. Over […]
Galdiera – a red microalgae useful for gold extraction from waste water and micro-mining
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/column/16/021500017/042000276/ Galdieria sulphuraria is a heterotrophic red alga found in sulfuric hot springs. It is a member of the Aedes aegypti Galderia is a startup that aims to cultivate and process Galdieria sulphuraria, and market it as a metal adsorbent for gold, palladium, and other metals. Galdieria sulphuraria is a unicellular red alga that lives […]
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101636.html Toray Ltd. and DM Mitsui Sugar have jointly developed a system to produce plant-derived sugar from sugarcane residue (bagasse) generated at sugar refineries in Thailand as part of NEDO’s “Demonstration Project on Energy-saving Cellulose Sugar Production System from Surplus Bagasse Raw Material. This system will make it possible to replace petroleum-derived chemicals with chemicals […]
CHITOSE Carbon Capture Central (C4) starts 7 ha microalgae cultivation facility in Kuching, Malaysia
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/report/16/082400016/041900285/ Across the road is a thermal power plant, and the CO2 in its exhaust gas is used to cultivate algae in photo bio reactors on 4,54 ha, with the total capacity reaching 4,060 tons (photo courtesy of Chitose Institute). C4 was established on behalf of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), […]
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/04/26/10634/ Kewpie and Hiroshima University have removed ovomucoid in chicken egg by genome editing. They succeeded in completely eliminating the obomucoid epitope by placing a deletion just behind the translation start point and causing a frameshift. They have also succeeded in suppressing off-target cleavage by using the TALEN technology of Platinum Bio. The obomucoid accounts […]
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/04/25/10628/ https://www.biopalette.co.jp BioPalette is a Kobe University startup established in February 2017 based on research results from Kobe University. Professor Keiji Nishida and his research team at Kobe University’s Research Center for Advanced Biotechnology have developed “Target-AID” and “Target-G,” base-editing technologies that can rewrite bases without cutting DNA, among other genome editing technologies. Target-AID” uses […]
Japan’s bioeconomy: “smart cells,” optimized production processes and a shared infrastructure
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101619.html As part of the Green Innovation Fund project, NEDO will start the “Promotion of carbon recycling using CO2 as a direct raw material using bio-manufacturing technology” (total budget: 176.7 billion yen). In this project, NEDO will focus on “sophistication of platform technology for modifying microorganisms to accelerate the development of useful microorganisms,” “development and […]
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/03/24/10518/ Kidswell Bio will soon conduct clinical research using autologous cells for cerebral palsy at Nagoya University regarding the company’s ongoing research on a therapy using deciduous dental pulp stem cells (SHED). In October 2022, Nagoya University and the company jointly applied for a patent for the treatment of cerebral palsy using HED, for which the […]
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/03/29/10532/ The consortium is named the “Cultivated Meat Future Creation Consortium” and has a research promotion base at Osaka University. Professor Noriya Matsuzaki of the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University, Shimadzu Corporation, and Sigmaxys have been working together to commercialize cultured meat using a 3D printer (see related article below for manufacturing technology). […]
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101621.html Under NEDO’s “Strategic Energy Conservation Technology Innovation Program,” Sunrick, in collaboration with Tohoku University and Yamagata University, has been developing vacuum evaporation cells for the formation of organic and metal thin films for organic EL. ) and its single-crystal wire fabrication process, which can be processed at room temperature. The new alloy has a […]
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101612.html As part of NEDO’s Green Innovation Fund Project “Large-Scale Hydrogen Supply Chain Construction Project,” Japan Hydrogen Energy Corporation, Iwatani Corporation, and ENEOS Corporation are engaged in the “Demonstration of Commercialization of a Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain. Currently, a technical study is being conducted to prepare for the start of construction and demonstration operations. The […]
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 […]
https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101613.html In conventional plant factories, the judgment of whether a seedling is good or bad depends on the subjective judgment of the operator, and only low-precision sorting is possible. This technology uses two AI models, one that estimates the height, width, and weight of spinach seedlings from their images, and the other that estimates the […]
iPS-derived cartilage shown to repair cartilage defects in monkeys
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/02/18/10421/ A research team led by Kyoto University’s Kengo Abe and Professor Noriyuki Tsumaki (Osaka University) showed that iPS cells of cynomolgus monkeys could be differentiated into chondrocytes to prepare cartilage tissue which was successfully transplanted to other individuals. Cartilage does not contain blood vessels and is difficult for immune cells to reach, so it […]
Regional Fish and NTT establish joint venture for aquaculture and breeding of genome-edited seafood
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/02/20/10431/ Regional Fish, Kyoto and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) announced on February 9, 2023, that they will establish a joint venture to produce and sell improved seafood on a commercial scale. The two companies have been jointly promoting the breeding and onshore cultivation of fish and algae using genome editing. So far, they […]
Interberry Alpha, a canine interferon, gains acceptance for treatment of canine and feline gingivitis
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/02/13/10395/ The plant-based veterinary drug Interberry Alpha has gained an indication for the treatment of feline gingivitis in addition to the existing indication for canine gingivitis. Information on the expanded indication was made public on February 13, 2023 in the database of the Veterinary Drug Inspectorate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of […]
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 launches phase 3 of an alcoholism treatment app in Japan
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 […]
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