The University of Tokyo Biotechnology Research Center

Japanese

Message from Director

Message from Director

Biotechnology is a powerful tool to solve the problems associated with food shortage, environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. The Agro-Biotechnology Research Center (AgTech) is a newly established center from the former Biotechnology Research Center (BRC), which was the predecessor of the university-wide center, taking a leading role in educational and research activities on Biotechnology.
In 1984, the former Biotechnology Research Facilities were established in the Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo). On the basis of the facilities, the BRC was established in 1993 to further promote biotechnology research with two research divisions, the Laboratory for Biotechnology and the Laboratory for Structural Biology. In 2003, the center was reorganized into three research divisions, the Laboratory of Environmental Biochemistry, the Laboratory of Cell Biotechnology, and the Laboratory of Plant Functional Biotechnology. In 2012, two endow courses, Functional Microbial Metabolomics (Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd.), and Creation of Energy and New Industries by Microalgae and Deep Sea Water, were established. From April 2015, one more endow course Microbial Membrane Transport Engineering and three collaborative divisions (Plant production systems engineering, Biosynthetic pathways engineering, Ecosystem engineering) with six adjunct professors started.
For 27 years until March 2021, we have been active as a university-wide center for a long time, but on April 2021 it was newly established as an expanded organization attached to the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences (GSALS), UTokyo with seven laboratories centered by the Department of Biotechnology and Collaborative Research Institute for Innovative Microbiology (CRIIM) in close cooperation.
All the staff in the center also participates in educational courses for graduate students in the Department of Biotechnology. In addition, the AgTech supports researchers in other departments of the GSALS by providing advice and facilities. AgTech plays a central role in plant and microbial biotechnology research, not only in UTokyo but also in the world. All the staff in the center keep making efforts to expand research and educational activities. Your cooperation and encouragement to our center are highly appreciated.

Keishi SENOO, Director of Agro-Biotechnology Research Center

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