Life Science & Medical Technology

RIKEN hosted a special online seminar on its research related to COVID-19 on July 15, 2020. The event was organized for an international audience in order to strengthen collaboration with research institutes, universities and companies all around the globe.

Japanese air-conditioner maker Daikin Industries will develop a high-performance reusable medical face mask in cooperation with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center and CrossEffect, a Kyoto-based three-dimensional engineering company.

In a first trial for Japan, a patient underwent a medical checkup followed by receiving a prescription by drone without requiring any in-person contact.

Japanese drugmaker Shionogi plans to increase production capacity for its coronavirus vaccine candidate, aiming to turn out enough vaccines for 30 million people per year by the end of 2021, as competition intensifies to develop COVID-19 treatments, Nikkei has learned.

Kyushu University has used silkworms to develop a protein that could become a candidate vaccine for COVID-19, officials said. The university, known as a world-class institution for silkworm studies, hopes to start clinical research for the vaccine as early as fiscal 2021. The vaccine could be mass-produced at an “insect plant,” keeping down the cost per inoculation to only several thousand yen (tens of dollars)

Researchers who stumbled on a previously unknown hereditary disease in a breed of dog said the discovery could prove to be a breakthrough in ascertaining how cancer develops in both canines and humans.

Cancer cells play dead to dodge attacks by immune cells, a scientist here discovered, and tumor tissue moves like a slug to fuse with other tumors, revelations that could trigger a breakthrough in the development of carcinoma treatment. The phenomena were uncovered using a special glass slide that promotes the growth of cancer cells for in-depth observation developed by Yukiko Miyatake, 47, an assistant professor of experimental pathology at the Faculty of Medicine of Hokkaido University.

Researchers have discovered the novel coronavirus in sewage in Yamanashi Prefecture, a finding they say could help detect a second wave of infections.

Drugmakers from Japan, the U.S. and Europe have announced a more than $1 billion fund to invest in startups developing treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections.

The coronavirus crisis has prompted Japan to ease regulations on remote medical treatment, creating an opening for tech companies and offering a glimpse of the future of health care in the world’s most rapidly aging society.