Biotechnology in Japan
Context
Economic recession since the 1990s. Need for higher competitiveness
through technological innovation.
The elderly population in Japan is expanding at an exceptionally high
rate comparted other countries. In 2000, citizens aged 65 or older
represent 17.3% of the population.
In 2001, the Japanese gouvernment has formulated what has been named
The Science and Technology Basic Plan which serves as the
basis for the science and technology policies. In addition the
governement has agreed on substantially increasing research investments
for the areas including data communication and biotechnology.
Millenium Project
The Japanese gouvernement initiated a research project on the
biotechnology-related areas, the Millenium Project, in
2000. The project focuses especially on genome-related research, as the
next few years are considered to be the critical period for the future
of this area. The budget allocated for the project was increased from
JPY 75 billions (USD 750 million) in the first year, to JPY 98 billion
(USD 980 million) in 2001.
The main research areas of this project include the structural and
functional analysis of human genes and proteins, bioinformatics etc...,
which are allocated to universities or research institutes under the
management of individual government ministries. For example:
- Ministry of health, labor and welfare: National Cancer Center,
National Cardiovascular Center, National Center of Neurology and
Psychiatry (research on genes related to diseases such as cancer,
hypertension, diabetes, dementia and asthma).
- Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: cDNA analysis and
bioinformatics
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology:
tissue engineering
The project is characterized by the collaboration among various
ministries as well as by its clear objective to commercialize the
project results so as to develop new drugs.
Jean-Philippe Vert
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