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Appendix B
Current Research and Development in
Biotechnology in the
United States and Japan
The following information is a compilation of material from business and
scientific journals and U.S. and Japanese researchers' personal knowledge and
observations. It is not a comprehensive assessment. It is hoped that this
summary will serve as a preliminary "road map" for researchers who wish to gain
some familiarity with the institutions most actively involved in biotechnology
R&D in Japan and the United States.
BIOTECHNOLOGY IN JAPAN
University: In addition to the inter-university basic research institutes at
Okazaki, there are five major Japanese universities with notable biotechnology
R&D efforts under way. Major research projects in specific aspects of
biotechnology R&D are led by specific professors. The institutions are:
University of Tokyo is active in the area of applied biological science
research, including applied protein engineering and genetic engineering.
Tokyo Institute of Technology has significant research in biosensors.
Kyoto University has research focusing on plant cell culture, particularly in
cell fusion and the introduction of nucleic acids into whole plant cells.
University of Osaka has work under way on gene expression.
Tsukoba University deserves mention for its research in plant biotechnology.
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30
Corporate: The following Japanese companies are notable for innovations in
specific subareas of biotechnology:29
Takeda Chemical Industries, Japan's largest pharmaceuticals firm, where the
focus of Takeda's research is on cell differentiation and safe vaccines. Takeda
was the first to produce a domestic recombinant DNA pharmaceutical, alpha
interferon, in 1988.
NEC conducts work on biosensor chips, especially health-care-related chips.
Mitsubishi Electric is involved with biosensor chips.
Fujitsu is working on biosensor chips for medical diagnostics.
Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical, and Mitsubishi Toatsu
Chemical, are active in cell fusion technology, focusing on the improvement of
. .
rice strains.
In addition to these individual company efforts, there has been an increase in
the number of private and MITI-funded biotechnology consortia over the past
five years. The most notable are:
Protein Engineering Research Institute. Funded by the Key Technology
Center and organized in 1986 to run for 10 years, this consortium has a staff of 60
researchers from 15 companies, including Kyowa Hairdo, Takeda, Toa Nenryo,
Toray, and Mitsubishi Chemical.
Plant Cell Culture Technology Center (PCCTC). Also funded by the Key
Technology Center, the PCCTC concentrates primarily on the development of
plant cell culture technology, including rDNA and cell fusion techniques.
Fermentation Research Institute (FRI). FRI is a MITI lab established in
1940 to help Japan create its fermentation technology.
Biomchnology-related collaborative projects are designed with international
cooperation and collaboration in mind are:
Human Frontiers Science Program, proposed at the Venice Summit in 1987 by
the Japanese government with an initial budget of $17 million for FY 1989.
Research areas will focus on brain functions such as learning and biological
functions achieved through molecular approaches such as molecular recognition.
ERATO, which has had nine biotechnology projects (three have since
concluded) in such areas as bioholonics, bioinformation transfer, and biophotons.30
29 Most of the information provided here on Japanese company and consortia biotechnology R&D is
from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Research and Development in Biotechnology-Related
Industries in Japan, 1989.
30 Japan Technology Evaluation Program, JTEClI Panel Report on the ERATO Program, December
1988.
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BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES
University: Broken down by subarea, major biotechnology research is
conducted at a wide number of institutions, including those listed below:
Harvard University, Stanford University, California Institute of
Technology, University of California at San Francisco, and University of
California at Berkeley: recombinant DNA.
University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota: agricultural
biotechnology.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at
Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Lehigh University: bioprocess
technology and applied rDNA research.
Corporate: In pharmaceuticals Eli Lilly and Merck dominate in terms of
R&D resources and research quality, although Genentech and Cetus are
dominant in actual biotechnology products. In the area of human health care
products (protein engineering, applied rDNA, monoclonal antibodies),
Genentech, Amgen, Centocor, and Cetus are leaders. In agricultural products
the corporate leader is Monsanto.
A major U.S. biotechnology consortium is the Engineering Research Center at
MIT the Biotechnology Process Engineering Center. Founded in 1985' it
focuses on fermentation technology, downstream processing, reactor kinetics, and
cell culture. The center has a budget of $8 to $10 million, which supports 15
faculty members and about 70 students.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
protein engineering
