Life Science and Biotechnology

[ Overview ]

Enjoying longevity in health is a key issue for achieving a sustainable society. “Health” means the state that we are sound enough mentally as well as physically to constructively participate in social activities. In order to create such a society, we intensively perform the following scientific and technological researches.

• Advanced technologies for prediction and diagnosis of diseases and the development of their measurement systems
• Technologies to design and synthesize functional compounds based on analysis of cell functions
• Technologies to regenerate tissue and cell functions and to create alternative devices
• Technologies to assist daily living based on measurement and analysis of the body's physiological and cognitive functions
• Technologies to evaluate and eliminate health risks in living and working environments

We aim to create a new health industry and an interdisciplinary science field of health through cooperative and integrated works with related research areas of AIST.

[ Overview ]

The Bioproduction Research Institute, established on April 1, 2010 conducts research, from basic to practical application research, aimed at highefficiency material production using bioprocesses in order to contribute to the development of technologies for the production of materials of high quality, such as fossil fuel alternatives, chemical feedstocks, drug feedstocks, useful proteins, biological materials, and new functional plant species, as well as the attainment of a material-recycling society. To achieve these goals, we are developing: (1) technologies for discovering microbes and various genetic resources; (2) technologies to analyze and search for genetic information at high speed; (3) technologies for the production of useful materials based on genetically modified plants, microbes, and animals; and (4) technologies for producing protein- and nucleic acid-related biological chemicals.

[ Overview ]

We are conducting research and development to clarify the structures and functions of biomolecules and develop new basic technology for drug discovery and medical treatment using knowledge including our study results. It is required, for the development of new drugs and new treatment of the disease, that biomolecules involved in the diseases are studied and abnormal biomolecules are removed or normalized. We are characterizing the functions and structures of genes and proteins that are involved in diseases, developing regulatory techniques of mechanisms that control many biological functions in the cells and the organs, and developing sensors for highly sensitive detection of markers required for disease diagnosis. Through these research activities, we contribute to the development of new drugs and the promotion of the healthcare industry.

[ Overview ]

Our institute is a unique research organization consisting of researchers in a wide range of disciplines such as ergonomics, psychology, physiology, brain science, bioengineering, and mathematical science. This allows multidisciplinary approaches to the scientific understanding of human characteristics and living environments, the results of which would enable the development of products and living environments that are highly compatible with human characteristics. In close cooperation with related industries, we conduct researches on higher brain functions for cognitive and knowledge-based skills relevant to the information society, and on technologies to evaluate and improve health and mind-body fitness, restore physical functions for independent living, and develop medical devices that are safe and less burdensome for patients. Researches are also carried out to promote industrial standardization applicable to product design for the elderly and people with disabilities, and to develop guidelines to facilitate speedy development of medical devices. The main focus of our research activities is to produce research outcomes that are useful to society.

[ Overview ]

Our research objective is primarily to discover glyco-biomarkers. In collaboration with corporations, universities and medical institutions, we work on the development of effective biomarkers for cancer and regenerative medicine, immunological and infectious diseases, as well as on the development of diagnosis system along with the formulation of the basic grounds for drug development. In addition, we share our research outcomes worldwide as well as give them back to society through the construction of database “ Integrative Database of Glycomics “ and collaborative activities. We are establishing our status as a hub organization of glyco-research.

[ Overview ]

Our goal is not simply to unravel complex biological mechanisms, but also to build technologies that aid our understanding of living systems from the perspective of information science and to utilize biological mechanisms for industrial purposes. CBRC focuses on three main fields of research: biological sequence information analysis, structural and functional analysis of biological molecules, and cellular informatics.

Our development of software and databases is intended to provide a useful collection of tools in bioinformatics. CBRC is building an integrated environment of these tools and public software and databases in order to offer more practical applications in bioinformatics.

As a purely “dry” bioinformatics research center, computing power is a critically important component of our infrastructure. The most important CBRC resource, however, is the researchers and staff, and we are open to accepting talented new members at all times and conducting collaborative researches with the private sector and universities.

[ Overview ]

Our mission is to develop innovative basic technologies and resources for drug discovery research in the post-genome era. For example, we have developed an ultrasensitive mass spectrometry system to identify protein interactions relevant to diseases. Analyzing structures of membrane proteins and other disease-related proteins would lead to "structure guided drug discovery". Our world's largest resources of natural compounds are used to identify new drug candidates that regulate functions of those disease-related proteins. Non-coding RNA is a novel target of drug discovery, and we are developing new technologies towards that direction. Our high quality full-length human cDNA library and protein array system are useful not only in those studies, but also in development of a novel diagnostic system. Finally, we are continuously updating and improving the annotated integrated database of all human genes, and making it publicly accessible. This would contribute to progress in drug discovery and life science in general.

[ Overview ]

The application of cells, tissues, and organs developed from multipotent stem cells to drug discovery screening and regenerative medicine in recent years is expected to become a next-generation innovation ensuring good health and security. In order to realize this expectation, we are developing techniques to establish embryonic stem cell lines and separate stem cells to obtain standardized stem cell sources. We are also developing techniques to effectively differentiate stem cells and create desired cell types, as well as a drug discovery screening system using the created cell types. Through these research activities, we will develop basic technologies to accelerate the practical application of stem cells.