Tag: Japan
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Process IDs Rice Traits to Help Tsunami-Hit Rice Growers
A collaboration between scientists in Japan and the U.K. is developing methods to identify genetic markers that can help cut the time needed to breed salt-tolerant and shorter rice to help Japanese growers recover from the tsunami in March 2011. The new process, called MutMap, is described online in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription…
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Honda Advances Autonomous Humanoid Robot and Robot Arm
Robotics engineers at Honda Motor Company in Japan have developed more advanced capabilities for ASIMO, its humanoid robot, and released an early version of a task-performing robot arm. The experimental robot arm is designed to be remotely controlled for tasks in unstable places which are difficult for people to access. The new version of the…
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Researchers Give Robotics a Human Face
Research engineers at Technical University of Munich (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, TUM) in Germany and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan have developed a way to give robots a human-like plastic head. Called Mask-bot, the technology may have a more immediate application as a tool to create avatars for participants in…
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ACADIA, Meiji Seika Advance Schizophrenia Drug to Trials
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company in San Diego, says its drug AM-831 developed with Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd. in Japan to treat schizophrenia has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to begin phase 1 clinical trials. The clinical study will test the drug’s safety, tolerability, and interaction with the body. AM-831 was…
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Johns Hopkins, Eisai to Collaborate on New Brain Drugs
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore and Eisai, a pharmaceutical company in Tokyo, will collaborate on research for discovery of drugs for brain conditions such as schizophrenia, pain, brain tumors and Alzheimer’s disease. The partnership will be part of the NeuroTranslational Program in JHU’s Brain Science Institute. The Brain Science Institute researches questions about brain…
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New Method Can Increase Commercial Antibiotic Yields
Researchers from the U.K. and Japan have devised a new method for increasing the yields of antibiotic compounds from bacteria. The process, which has practical applications in commercial pharmaceutical production, is scheduled to be described this week in an online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Most known antibiotics are…
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Robot Being Developed to Aid in Care of Elderly
The Japanese research foundation RIKEN, in collaboration with Tokai Rubber Industries Ltd. in Nagoya Science Park, has developed a robot with the ability to lift and carry a patient from floor-level bedding to a wheelchair and back. The robot, with high-precision tactile sensors and motor control, was designed to meet the needs of caring…
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Hot Booze Found to Increase Iron Superconductivity
Scientists from the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan and University of Tsukuba found that soaking pellets of an iron-based compound in heated alcoholic beverages for 24 hours increases the pellets’ superconducting ability. Their findings appear in the current issue of the journal Superconductor Science and Technology (free registration required). Creating a faster…
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Collaboration to Research Obesity Biomarkers, Drug Targets
Florida Hospital in Orlando, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute also in Orlando, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in Osaka, Japan, will collaborate on developing new therapies for obesity, a growing worldwide health problem. The partnership aims to to identify and validate new obesity-related biomarkers and molecular targets. The project is the first corporate-sponsored research undertaken by the…
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Pharma R&D Q3 Output Keeps Pace, But Revenue Slides
The financial research company Fitch Ratings said in a report issued today that the global pharmaceutical companies followed by the company maintained a modest, but steady pace of new product approvals and regulatory filings to U.S., European, and Japanese regulators in the third quarter of 2010. The report, “Global Pharmaceutical R&D Pipeline: Third-Quarter 2010” (subscription…