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| Ken Izumori (left) / Masaaki Tokuda (right) |
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| Rare sugar is monosaccharide that exists rarely in the natural world, and they come in about 50 types. The research of sugar had not been taken up worldwide, due to the difficulty of sugar procurement or the high price if it was sold. For example, a rare sugar D-psicose costs 70,000 yen per gram. Discovery of a new enzyme D-tagatose3-epimerase (DTE) by Professor Izumori of Kagawa University completed Izumoring that was a systematic production strategy for rare sugar. The discovery and completion enabled a stable production system of several rare sugars including D-psicose. In the rare sugar produced using Izumoring, physiological functions are being discovered one by one. The group of Professor Tokuda and his colleagues could never have predicted this in their research. As is turned out, various functions are still hidden in simple sugar. A large number of actions have been demonstrated, such as inhibition of active oxygen radical production, protection of organs from ischemia, inhibition of cancer cell proliferation, anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, effect inhibition of lipid synthesis and growth control activity in plants. The project strives to create mass production of rare sugar and create a novel glyco-life science and novel glyco-bio industries, focusing on its physiological functions. |
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In order to make optimum use of the excellence in this region as the only place that can produce the rare sugar substance at a practical level with this project, Kagawa Prefecture assures full measures for rare sugar control. Research findings have been strategically patented. Intellectual property which becomes the foundation for cluster creation is now being accumulated.
Utilizing these results in the future, the prefecture strives for creation of new life science and bio industry, positively and strategically in cooperation with companies in and out of the prefecture. |
| Cluster headquarters organization |
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*President: Takeki Manabe (Governor of Kagawa Prefecture)
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*Vice President
: Koji Kondo (Former President of Kagawa University)
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*Project Director
: Yoshio Tsujisaka |
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*Research Director
: Ken Izumori
(Director, Kagawa University Rare Sugar Research Center)
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*Research Vice Director
: Masaaki Tokuda
(Vice Director, Kagawa University Rare Sugar Research Center) |
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*Science and Technology Coordinator
: Syuzo Sakai |
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*Patent Advisor
: Asako Sudo |
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*Operational Strategy Advisors
: Toru Tabei/Yoshinori Sato |
| *Kagawa Industry Support Foundation |
| Participating research organizations |
| Industry |
| Fushimi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. / Teikoku Seiyaku Co., Ltd. / Shikoku Research Institute Inc. / RyuSyo Industrial Co., Ltd. / Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories, Inc. / Organo Corporation etc. |
| Academia |
| Kagawa University |
| Government |
| AIST Shikoku (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology ,or AIST) / National Agricultural Research Center for Western Region / Kagawa Prefectural Industrial Technology Center / Kagawa Prefecture Agricultural Experiment Station / Kagawa Prefecture Forestry Research Center / Research Institute for Solvothermal Technology / Kagawa Prefecture National Institute of Animal Industry
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| Background of the project |
| Research into rare sugars is expected to have high potential, and is now supported by the Intellectual cluster creation project from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Shikoku techno-bridge project run by the Shikoku Bureau of Economy, Trade & Industry. Kagawa Prefecture has also challenged itself with a project for glyco-biocluster creation research. These projects are conducted through academia, industry and governmental cooperation. The project aims to produce new products and projects for pharmaceutical products, food products and agricultural chemicals using rare sugar which is expected to drive the local economy in the future. This is in line with the development of Kagawa Prefecture so it becomes the worldwide center for rare sugar research and development. |
| For further information for project contact |
Industrial Policy, Division, Commerce, Industry and Labor Department,Kagawa Prefecture Government
Phone: +81-87-832-3352 URL http://rs.kagawa.com
Photographs and text are quoted from Proud project by academia, business and government in Shikoku, issued by
Shikoku Bureau of Economy, Trade & Industry.
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