National / Science & Health Jun 3, 2020
Japan researchers create tiny bronchi to develop drug for COVID-19
It is hoped the miniature organ will serve as a better model for evaluating anti-viral drugs' efficacy than a single cell.
National / Science & Health Mar 19, 2020
Japanese researchers to test blood thinner for coronavirus treatment
A blood thinner used to treat pancreatitis and kidney disease has been identified as a potential therapy for COVID-19 patients, with clinical trials in Japan possibly set to begin within a month, researchers at the University of Tokyo said Wednesday. The drug, known by the ...
World / Science & Health Mar 11, 2020
Second patient cured of HIV using stem cell transplant treatment
A second patient has been cured of HIV after undergoing stem cell transplant treatment, doctors said Tuesday, after finding no trace of infection 30 months after he stopped traditional treatment. The "London Patient," a cancer sufferer originally from Venezuela, made headlines last year when researchers ...
World / Science & Health Feb 21, 2020
Lab-grown meat? Dutch start-up keeps pork on your plate without wrecking the planet
A Dutch start-up may have found a workaround for eco-conscious consumers struggling to give up meat: pork grown in a laboratory that doesn't harm animals or damage the planet. Meatable will this summer unveil its first pork prototype made entirely from cultured animal cells instead ...
World / Science & Health Feb 8, 2020
French court requires strict testing for crops created using CRISPR genetic technique
France's highest administrative court decided Friday that plants produced using new gene editing techniques such as CRISPR undergo strict testing as genetically modified organisms in a ruling that could see some varieties pulled from the market. The Conseil d'Etat said in its ruling that the ...
World / Science & Health Feb 7, 2020
CRISPR passes test: Patients show no side effects after immune systems genetically edited
U.S. scientists have succeeded in genetically editing the immune systems of three cancer patients using CRISPR without creating any side effects, a first for the tool, which is revolutionizing biomedical research. The highly anticipated results from the first phase of a clinical trial were published ...
National / Science & Health Jan 28, 2020
Osaka University transplants iPS cell-based heart cells in world's first clinical trial
An Osaka University team said it has carried out the world's first transplant of cardiac muscle cells created from iPS cells in a physician-initiated clinical trial. In the clinical project to verify the safety and efficacy of the therapy using induced pluripotent stem cells, Yoshiki ...
National / Science & Health Jan 25, 2020
An expert panel of the health ministry on Friday approved a clinical research program proposed by a Kyoto University team to transplant cartilage made from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to damaged knee joints. Professor Noriyuki Tsumaki and other members of the team are planning ...
Business / Corporate Dec 6, 2019
Defying local skepticism and 'Tokyo first' mentality, Science Park thrives in rural Yamagata
by Tomohiro Osaki
When Keio University professor Masaru Tomita accepted an offer in 2000 to head a new science lab in the city of Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, his fellow researchers — shocked at what they evidently considered his relegation to the countryside — warned him that his ...
World / Science & Health Nov 9, 2019
Rich and poor debate treaty on plant gene data as climate change hits crops
Ahead of renewed negotiations to revise a global treaty in Rome on Monday, rich and poor countries are at loggerheads over how to share genetic plant data that could help breed crops better able to withstand climate change. The little-known agreement is seen as crucial ...
World / Science & Health Oct 16, 2019
Creating meat from cells is no longer the realm of science fiction — a Russian cosmonaut recently did it aboard the International Space Station, and it is just a matter of time before these products arrive on supermarket shelves. Tests carried out in space in ...
Business Sep 22, 2019
Biotech firms eye big profits as owners seek cures for their sick pets
For Jessica Lescault there is no question that her 6-year-old English bulldog Moose deserves cutting-edge biotechnology cancer treatment as much as any human patient. "Pets are your loved ones, pets should be your family, pets are not something you keep on a chain in the ...