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April 13, 2025
 

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BIOTECHNOLOGY

A genetically modified wolf juvenile, one of three successfully bred by reconstructing a genome from the ancient DNA of fossils from dire wolves that had been extinct for over 12,500 years by Colossal Biosciences, billed as "the world’s only de-extinction company," is seen at age five months after his Oct. 1, 2024 birth, at a secure site in the northern United States.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 9, 2025
U.S. company resurrects the extinct dire wolf, or some version of it
Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences has announced the birth of three genetically engineered wolf pups — all with striking white fur — created with the help of ancient DNA.
A myocardial cell sheet using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 9, 2025
Japanese startup seeks approval for world’s first iPS regenerative treatment
The Osaka University startup is targeting patients suffering from severe heart failure for whom current treatment options are limited.
U.S. molecular biologist David Liu in 2017. A revolution is underway in gene editing, and at its forefront is Liu, whose pioneering work is rewriting the building blocks of life with unprecedented precision.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 7, 2025
The scientist rewriting DNA, and the future of medicine
American molecular biologist David Liu foresees his work to also contribute to areas such as developing more nutritious or disease-resistant crops.
Keio University in Tokyo
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 22, 2025
Keio University team says stem cell treatment helped improve spine injuries
Keio University said that the motor function score for two patients improved after an operation to implant more than 2 million iPS-derived cells into a spinal cord.
Instead of spending billions to resurrect woolly mammoths, we could focus on preserving endangered species, saving ecosystems, and securing biodiversity for the future.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2025
Got $10 billion? Don’t blow it cloning a woolly mammoth.
Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering startup valued at $10 billion, has raised $435 million to "de-extinct” the woolly mammoth.
Too many people die from treatable diseases in places with little access to health care. To prevent this from happening, affordability, availability and acceptability considerations must be at the core of medical products' lifecycles, starting with R & D.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2025
To stop preventable deaths, start with the fundamentals
Treatable diseases like malaria are still causing too many deaths in places with poor health care. To prevent these, accessibility must be baked into medical development.
Kyoto University's CiRA Foundation will automatically make autologous induced pluripotent stem cells and turn them into heart muscle and nerve cells at a new facility in the city of Osaka starting in April.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2025
Automated iPS cell production to start in Japan in April
Autologous iPS cells will be created and turned into, among others, heart muscle and nerve cells.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024
U.S. House passes bill to blacklist some China biotech firms
China hawks in the U.S. House passed legislation that would blacklist Chinese biotech companies and their U.S. subsidiaries.
A colony of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells established from fibroblasts. Kyoto University Hospital is looking to develop a treatment for Type 1 diabetes using iPS cells.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 3, 2024
Kyoto University Hospital seeks to treat Type 1 diabetes using iPS cells
Researchers will begin clinical trial of a treatment as early as next year, which they hope will become available in the 2030s.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's public search facility in Alexandria, Virginia
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 30, 2024
U.S. funded over 1,000 patents for China-based researchers, data shows
The U.S. patent data could amplify calls to cancel or renegotiate the landmark U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement.
Kyoto University researchers have found a way to create “near-indefinite” volumes of early-stage sperm and egg cells from iPS cells — a milestone that could potentially lead to new infertility treatments.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 21, 2024
New Japan study on germ cells may help advance infertility treatments
The research aims to expand our understanding of how human germ cells develop, and also opens up possibilities for creating sperm and egg cells in a lab.
An image provided by Profluent Bio shows the physical structure of OpenCRISPR-1, a gene editor created by AI technology from Profluent.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 25, 2024
Generative AI arrives in the gene-editing world of CRISPR
AI has arrived on the scene of gene editing with the goal of outdoing billions of years of natural evolution.
Haruko Obokata speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka in 2014. Ten years after the STAP scandal, structural problems that led to the scandal persist, leaving ample room for researchers to tamper with research data, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2024
Little change in Japan’s research sector 10 years after stem cell fraud
A decade after the STAP scandal, there is still a lot of leeway for researchers to tamper with data.
A 23andMe DNA kit
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
Drugmakers are set to pay 23andMe millions to access consumer DNA
Under the new agreement, 23andMe will provide GSK with access to anonymized DNA data from customers who have agreed to share their information.
Hiroshi Mikitani, co-chief executive officer of Rakuten Medical, speaks at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's meeting in Yokohama on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2023
Rakuten’s Mikitani spends a fifth of his time on biotech startup
Rakuten Medical, based in San Diego, employs about 200 people and specializes in a therapy that uses light and immunotherapy drugs to fight cancer.
An installation for The North Face Moon Parka, which uses a Spiber-produced protein material
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Aug 6, 2023
A Japanese startup is using biotech to ‘brew’ greener fashion
Fashion has a huge environmental impact, and Spiber thinks its products can help curb the industry's footprint.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2023
Biotechnology startup Colossal Biosciences wants to bring back the dodo
The billion-dollar startup has added the famous bird to its de-extinction agenda, alongside the woolly mammoth.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2022
Another Crispr first: New treatment wipes out teen's cancer
Next-generation Crispr gene-editing was used to create a therapy that attacked a 13-year-old's stubborn leukemia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2022
Japanese biotech firm uses tiny worms in test for pancreatic cancer
The creatures, a species of nematodes known scientifically as C. elegans, have olfactory senses much more powerful than dogs, the firm says, and they follow their nose toward cancer cells.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 15, 2022
Biotech money shock: Investors unwind speculative bets as pandemic fears fade
While an appetite for the shares of vaccine makers and drug companies remain, inflows into health care funds have slowed to more modest figures.
Japan and U.S. to hold joint patrol after Okinawa sexual assaults
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki may participate in a joint patrol in the prefecture by Japanese and U.S. officials, an official in the area said.
Can anyone deal with Trump better than Ishiba?
Having had two meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is slowly building a personal relationship with him, which matters greatly to the U.S. president and in resolving bilateral issues.
Ishiba warns of divided world at futuristic Osaka Expo opening ceremony
The opening ceremony for the Osaka Expo on Saturday.
Why Trump’s dream of made-in-the-USA iPhones isn’t going to happen
U.S. President Donald Trump wants Apple to begin building iPhones in the United States. But Apple is unlikely to move production to the country in the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons.
A trip to remember: Japan answers the demand for curated luxury travel
Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture in 2017. Travel agencies catering to luxury tourists often include areas outside well-known cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto in their itineraries offered.
Heaven from hells: The sulfuric pleasure of Unzen Onsen
While Unzen Onsen's "hells" can be visually striking, locals describe them and their effects as "a source of emotional healing."
How to spend the perfect day in Hiroo, Tokyo’s expat enclave
Customers line up patiently for some early-afternoon baked goods outside Truffle, which is located close to Hiroo Station on the Hibiya Line.
A trip to remember: Japan answers the demand for curated luxury travel
Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture in 2017. Travel agencies catering to luxury tourists often include areas outside well-known cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto in their itineraries offered.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can anyone deal with Trump better than Ishiba?
Having had two meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is slowly building a personal relationship with him, which matters greatly to the U.S. president and in resolving bilateral issues.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

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