AIST REPORT 2012

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A partnership enabling the commercial application of plant biotechnologyAIST and Indonesiaʼs Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) are both large public research institutions representing their countries. To further strengthen our cooperation, we concluded a memorandum of understanding on comprehensive research cooperation (MOU) on February 24, 2011. At the same time, AIST, BPPT and the Bridgestone Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of rubber and tires, agreed to start collaborative research into natural rubber.Bridgestone owns large rubber plantations in Indonesia, which are managed with high-level technologies. Bridgestone has had a cooperative relationship with BPPT for some time. They embarked on biotechnology research together at the start of this century, and they come with great hopes for AISTʼs fundamental technologies.For AIST, this partnership offers an excellent chance to put our leading edge knowledge and technologies in the plant biotechnology field into practice. Plant biotechnology is generally a difficult field in which to link leading edge research findings to commercial applications in Japan. In this partnership, however, we can perform large-scale empirical testing in the plantations of Indonesia and the research outcomes will be very clear, so this is a definite route to commercial application.In this light, participants on all sides agreed that they had found excellent partners and had formed an ideal partnership, and the project has started smoothly.The importance of natural rubber and the global marketOf the three partners, it was Bridgestone who devised the overall scenario for achieving practical application on the basis of AISTʼs leading edge plant biotechnology. AIST is principally responsible for the basic technologies, while BPPT and Bridgestone share responsibility for the development of applied technologies and practical testing in the plantations.So why is improving the productivity of natural rubber a matter of urgency? For the background, Bridgestoneʼs central laboratory director Koichi Morita describes a pressing situation: “There is no synthetic rubber that exceeds the strength of natural rubber, so reliable supplies of natural rubber are very important for the automobile industry and the tire industry. However, cultivation of the source, the Pará rubber tree, is limited to tropical regions, and about 90% of the natural rubber that is used in the world is produced in Southeast Asia. With the spread of motorization in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the consumption of natural rubber is rapidly increasing. However, there are not large areas of arable land to spare in Southeast Asia. With the situation progressively getting more difficult, it is important for us to introduce leading edge biotechnology and reliably improve productivity if we are to maintain the balance of supply and demand.”In Bridgestoneʼs scenario, the fruits of the research will not be limited to application in its own plantations but will be widely deployed on rubber plantations in Indonesia, with BPPT acting as a base.Molecular breeding technology as the key to improving productivityRubber trees can be harvested from about five years after planting, and growing trials of around 20 years are needed to really see whether productivity is good or bad. Therefore, to achieve an improvement in productivity by classical breeding with cross-fertilisation takes very many months and years. The key to reducing this Shaping the Future of the Rubber Industry with Molecular Breeding Technology in Rubber TreesWe have embarked on international collaborative research with the aim of improving the productivity of natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis). This collaboration will link three parties in a Win-Win relationship that is beneficial for all, with AIST realizing the commercial application of leading edge plant biotechnologies, the Bridgestone Corporation being assured of supplies of natural rubber, and Indonesia by promoting a key industry.Collecting latex ( rubber)A rubber tree nurseryOpen InnovationResearch Report: “Partnership” Research with AIST (III)18|Open Innovation

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