International Exchange : Sweden - Japan

4th Sweden-Japan Workshop on Bio-Nanotechnology (Nov. 13-14, 2006)

Program (144 KB)

Abstract (11.0 MB)

The fourth Sweden-Japan Workshop on Bio-Nanotechnology was held at National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, November 13-14, 2006. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology (MEXT) and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research held their first joint workshop in Sweden in 2002, the second in Japan in 2003, and the third in Sweden two years later. They conducted a fourth workshop in Japan, attended by 50 participants including 11 Swedish speakers, 16 Japanese speakers and eight presenters for a poster session.

Dr. Lars Rask of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and Mr. Masayuki Takahashi, Director of the Office for Materials Science and Nanotechnology Development at MEXT, gave opening and welcome speeches. Prof. Masuo Aizawa, President of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Prof. Thomas Laurell at Lund University who have been playing key roles in organizing the workshops, explained to the attendees how the workshops have been conducted so far, that many speeches at the workshop are about applications of bio-nanotechnology and that cell biology is currently attracting a great deal of attention from many researchers. They also talked about that one of the workshop’s objectives is to expand interaction among researchers of the two countries by having more first-time participants.

As the opening presentation, Prof. Aizawa delivered a speech entitled “Advances and Challenges of Bio-Nanotechnology / Nano-Biotechnology,” in which he talked about this field's leading trend and outlook. Session I on the first day was about Nano-bioelectronics, Session II about Manipulation and analysis of cell and biomolecules on chip, Session III Biomedical application, and Session IV Nanoscience and nanomaterials for biotechnology. On the second day, Session I was on Biomimetics material and bio-sensing application, Session II Biomolecular detection, Session III Cell and protein based device, and Session IV was a poster session.

The results of much recent research were presented, and discussed by participants actively. Among other studies presented, Kyushu University Professor Yoshiki Katayama's “New Concept for Gene Therapy using Intracellular Signal-Responsive Gene Regulation System” attracted much attention from participants. His research is aimed at directly distinguishing cancer cells from normal ones. This is now very difficult because researchers have been focusing attention only on differences in the surface structures of the two types of cells. Associate Prof. Mats Nilsson at Uppsala University presented “Amplified Single-molecule Detection for Bioanalytical and Single-cell Biology Studies.” The professor introduced technology that enables researchers to analyze molecules in individual cells at the single nucleic acid molecular level. Both these research works were recognized by the participants as a remarkable advancement. In the poster session, Japanese researchers who had participated in a program for dispatching young researchers presented their research, taking advantage of their strong relationship with their Swedish counterparts. The program for young researchers is designed to promote interaction among researchers of the two countries in a wide range of fields.

Results of bio-nanotechnology research will be used for medical applications. In the opinion-exchange gathering after all sessions on the first day, some participants said the key challenge they face is deciding how to promote not only cooperation between the medical and engineering fields but also the fusion of these sectors in an environment where researchers tend to concentrate their activities in limited areas. Some Swedish participants also said they are conducting joint research for medical applications, but reported difficulty in carrying out in vivo research. On November 15th, the 11 Swedish participants joined a tour of nanotechnology and biotechnology related laboratories -- the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and NEC’s Fundamental and Environmental Research Laboratories.