Osaka University team finds clue in microbiota for rheumatoid arthritis
Based on extracted DNA samples and shotgun sequencing collected from stool of 82 untreated rheumatoid arthritis patients and 42 healthy subjects, the team of OKADA Toshihiro at Osaka University School of Medicine has found that some species of Prevotella are significantly increased in the microbiome of rheumatoid arthritis patients. It could not be concluded whether the increase of Prevotella is the cause or the result of disease. However, since the stool of patients at an early stage was analyzed, the finding may be used as a risk prediction marker. As there was no significant difference in the metagenomic diversity between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy individuals, dysbiosis did not seem to be related to rheumatoid arthritis.
Nikkei Biotech news release, November 11, 2019
Genome editing provides high-sugar content tomatos: Nagoya University
Katsuhiro SHIRATAKE of Nagoya University and coworkers from RIKEN have achieved the development of a high-fructose tomato by disrupting the INVINH gene, encoding an invertase inhibitor. As genome editing tools, a CRISPR / Cas9 vector and Target-AID vector targeting...
Cellulose nanofibers one step closer to wide industrial use: NEDO, Japan
NEDO has announced that acetylated ligno cellulose nanofiber (CNF) show high biodegradability (~90% in the OECD TG301C test), bringing this material closer to wide applications. CNF are cellulose fibers with a diameter of 3 – 10 nm obtained from woody biomass such as...
JBA’s Bioindustry Award 2019 goes to Kaneka and RIKEN researchers for the development of a PHBH polymer biodegradable on soil and in seawater
The poly-hexanoate-butyrate (PHBH) copolymer is produced by Kaneka from plant oil using a recombinant strain of Cupriavidus necator at a capacity of currently 1,000 tons, with plans to increase production to 5,000 and later to 100,000 tons a year. PHBH materials...
Mitsubishi’s Life Science Institute (LSI) will start clinical trial on treatment of spinal cord injury with Muse cells
LSI announced that a domestic clinical trial for spinal cord injury in the subacute phase will be started using the Muse cell product “CL2020”.. The company has been conducting clinical trials already for three other diseases, acute myocardial infarction, cerebral...
NEDO defines five new topics for “smart cell industry” program
The “smart cell industry” program of NEDO (2016-2020) aims to produce industrial materials from plants and microorganisms in economically viable yields based on metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. The five new topics (2019-2020) are Microbial production of...
High yield production of tetrahydropapaveroline, a pharmaceutical raw material, using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering
The group of Akihiko KONDO at Kobe University has used computer simulations, newly designed metabolic pathways and introduction of an engineered silkworm enzyme into E. coli to produce tetrahydropapaveroline (THP), a precursor compound of various benzylisoquinoline...
New bio-strategy of government will focus support of private investment in 10 areas
As indicated by Koichi AKAISHI, Chief Policy officer of the Cabinet Office, the government’s new bio-strategy will include support of company investments in the following 10 areas: (1) high-performance biomaterials (2) bioplastics (3) sustainable primary production...
RIKEN establishes research lab for natural products and chemical Biology in Hangzhou, China
RIKEN held an opening ceremony on April 19, 2019, for a collaborative laboratory on natural products and chemical biology at Hangzhou Future Science and Technology Park. The collaborative laboratory will identify useful substances from natural compounds collected from...
Tohoku Medical Megabank ToMMo and Kyoto University’s CiRA collaborate on iPS cell banking
ToMMo established after the Great Eastern Earthquake so far has analyzed whole genomes of 5000 healthy local people and about 100,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Since 2016, CiRA and ToMMo started collaborative research and established healthy iPS cells...
Kansai University develops iron oxide catalyst for high-performance organosilicon synthesis
Under a NEDO contract, the team of Yasushi ODORU at Kansai University has succeeded to substitute the conventional platinum catalyst for organosilicon synthesis by a catalyst based on iron oxide nanoparticles coated with DMF. The new catalyst has high...
Nihon Ita Glass to launch PicoGene PCR1100 mobile RT PCR device
The device allows for rapid, high-precision genetic field testing, for instance early inspection of food poisoning by bacteria. The device uses a compact fluorescence detector which applies the "SELFOC" microlens developed by the company in the 2000s as a...
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma to explore iPS-based regenerative medicine for kidney failure
The method is based on the "embryonic organ niche method" developed by the Tokyo Jikei Medical University and others. In this method, human cells are implanted at the organ development site (organ niche) of a baby pig and grown to a normal organ. Nephron precursor...