The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on July 31 arrested Mr. Gozo Tsujimoto, a former professor at Kyoto University's Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Science, for allegedly taking bribes worth some ¥6.2 million from Med Shirotori, a Tokyo-based medical equipment sales firm, from 2007 to 2011, in exchange for helping the firm sell equipment to the university. The firm won at least five contracts worth at least ¥246 million between 2007 and 2011, including one for a genome analyzer.
Mr. Tsujimoto, a leading researcher in developing new drugs from genomic information — a field the government highly values — resigned from the university June 28 after the university was searched. His arrest should serve as a strong warning to scientists getting research funds from the outside, including the central and local governments and private firms. They must bear in mind that high ethical standards are required of them.
They should at least familiarize themselves with the ethical code for scientific researchers compiled by the Science Council of Japan. It is also necessary for organizations that either provide or receive research funds to work out concrete ways to prevent unethical use of research funds by scientists and to make transparent their ties with equipment suppliers and other research-related entities.