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Keio University Branches Out: Campuses Established Through Regional Collaboration and Domestic and Overseas Bases (2)

Update:Feb. 3, 2015

Tsuruoka Town Campus
Transforming Tsuruoka City into a World-Leading “Bio-Town” through Regional Collaboration

(image 1) The Center Building located south of JR Tsuruoka Station
(image 1) The Center Building located south of JR Tsuruoka Station
(image 2) The Biolab to the north of Tsuruoka station
(image 2) The Biolab to the north of Tsuruoka station
(image 3) The Biolab where Metabolome analysis and other biotechnology related experiments are conducted
(image 3) The Biolab where Metabolome analysis and other biotechnology related experiments are conducted
(image 4) 49 sets of metabolome analysis equipment in the Metabolome Campus
(image 4) 49 sets of metabolome analysis equipment in the Metabolome Campus
(image 5) Jacuzzi inside the Biolab
(image 5) Jacuzzi inside the Biolab

The Tsuruoka Town Campus of Keio (TTCK) in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, was established in April, 2001, in collaboration with Yamagata Prefecture and the towns and villages in the Shonai region, and hosts the Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB).

Research at the IAB is mainly conducted at two facilities: the Center Building located south of JR Tsuruoka Station (image 1); and the Biolab to the north of the station (image 2). With its placement in the Tsuruoka Park, the Center Building is set in a tranquil environment surrounded by a moat and green grounds. The Graduate School of Tohoku University of Community Service and Science and the Chido Library are also located at the same site. This library is not only open to the students and researchers, but also to the public.

At the Biolab, metabolome analysis and other biotechnology related experiments are conducted (image 3). In the adjoining Metabolome Campus, there are 49 sets of metabolome analysis equipment (image 4). Also inside the Biolab is a jacuzzi to relax the tired body (image 5). Venture companies born from research activities at IAB, namely Human Metabolome Technologies Inc. (HMT)—listed on TSE Mothers in March 2012—and Spiber Inc. are located close to the Biolab.
 

HMT specializes in the business of metabolome analysis using the CE-MS based metabolome analysis technology (described below) developed by Prof. Tomoyoshi Soga (Faculty of Environmental Information). Spiber is working on commercializing the extremely tough and elastic “artificial spider silk” fiber, which was developed at the IAB by Kazuhide Sekiyama, who graduated from the Keio Faculty of Environmental Information in 2005, and is currently a Board Member and the Representative Executive Officer of the company.

Professor Masaru Tomita (Faculty of Environmental Information), Director General of IAB explains, “Many of you may wonder why Keio University decided to build this research institute in this remote location, far from Tokyo, but many of the major research institutes in Europe and North America are located in areas rich in nature. It is actually rather strange that universities and research institutes in Japan are concentrated in city areas. In Tsuruoka you are surrounded by beautiful nature and culture, clean air, and the seasonal vegetables and seafood are delicious—it is an ideal place to settle and focus on research. Our mission is to lead Japan by setting a successful example of regional revitalization by generating more and more original and innovative ideas from Tsuruoka and realizing them.”

Graduate school students who major in the Graduate Program in Advanced Biosciences at the Graduate School of Media and Governance move to Tsuruoka to pursue their research, and undergraduate students studying biotechnology on Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) can take part in the credit-earning “Biocamp” initiative where they spend two (or one) semesters in the dormitory on TTCK, and learn the basics of biotechnology experiments.

With the 10th Annual International Conference of the Metabolomics Society in June this year, Tsuruoka is now a world-recognized city for biotechnology, especially in the arena of metabolomics analysis, and this owes much to Professor Soga’s development of the world’s first CE-MS technology.

“Metabolomics is a generic term that represents the collection of all metabolites in a cell. Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) is an analytical technique that simultaneously measures all the several thousand types of metabolites that are found in mammals. Any ionic material can be analyzed this way, and we have been collaborating with the Keio School of Medicine and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the research on low-molecular-weight compounds that indicate abnormality in the living body and tissues,” says Professor Soga, who is now about to focus his investigation on tumor cell metabolism. He continues, “Identifying cancer-specific metabolites will be a major world discovery and should play and instrumental role in the development of new drugs. It is a researcher’s responsibility to do something helpful for society.”

Professor Masaru Tomita
Professor Masaru Tomita
Faculty of Environmental Information
Professor Tomoyoshi Soga
Professor Tomoyoshi Soga
Faculty of Environmental Information

One of the projects conducted at the K2 Town Campus is the “haptics project” led by Professor Kohei Ohnishi (Keio Faculty of Science and Technology) at the Ohnishi Laboratory. Haptics refers to the discipline and technology which engineer the human sense of touch (tactile feedback) and is developed to assist human activities.

“Sensors can be used to reproduce tactile sensations from remote locations, but many researchers have given up this type of research as the method has its limitations in sensing subtle textures and recreating fine and detailed motions. However, the world’s first “real-world haptics” technology developed at the Ohnishi Laboratory can remotely control and reproduce tactile sensation of the skin and delicate motions using technology that enables electrical manipulation of both position and force information. A “touch” is worth a thousand words, so I invite you to experience it for yourself,” explains Professor Ohnishi.

For example, a haptic device presses down onto a sponge on one end, the data of which is transmitted wirelessly to another device. By pushing the lever, the tactile sensation of the sponge being pressed is replicated realistically. The distinct sensation of pulling off Velcro can also be reproduced quite accurately. One experiment involved the reproduction of the sensation of popping a balloon using a remote conference system. In the experiment, the balloon on Yagami Campus was monitored through a computer screen on the K2 Town Campus, and despite the distance between the two campuses, the elasticity of the balloon as well as the sensation of the balloon bursting felt surprisingly real (above left image).

“We originally started this research at the request of the Keio University School of Medicine to develop surgical robots, but real-world haptics technology goes beyond medical application and can be utilized for other human activities in remote locations.” We may see the practical applications of this cutting-edge technology originating from the K2 Town Campus laboratory in the not-so-distant future.

Finding Moments of Relaxation During My Research
Recharging at the Sea or in the Mountains on My Days Off

Chiharu Ishii, Graduate School of Media and Governance, First-year doctoral program
Chiharu Ishii, Graduate School of Media and Governance, First-year doctoral program

I decided to enroll in the Faculty of Environmental Information after finding out about biotechnology research on open campus day. In my undergraduate years, I used my spring and summer holidays to conduct experiments at Tsuruoka. I moved to this city from my master’s and now live quite comfortably while I spend my days researching. My present research theme is about the analysis of the composition of intestinal bacteria and bacteria-produced substances through the combination of DNA sequence and metabolome analyses, and the investigation into how they are linked to people’s health. In the future, I hope that intestinal bacteria tests will become included in general health checkups, so that we can predict what kind of illness people are susceptible to, and prevent its occurrence by improving eating habits.

Every day I come and go between my lab and the shared house, but during the summer I go fishing in the Japan Sea, and in the winter to Mount Yudono to ski or snowboard, so I find plenty of enjoyment during my days off. One of the attractive things about the Tsuruoka Town Campus is that nature is all around so that I can refresh my mind anytime.

*This article appeared in the 2014 autumn edition (No.284) of “Juku”.
Keio University Branches Out: Campuses Established Through Regional Collaboration and Domestic and Overseas Bases (3) is scheduled to be updated around February 9