Doctoral student Tomoki Takeda from the Kazuharu Arakawa Lab has earned the Best Poster Award at the 19th Metabolome Symposium.
The symposium brings together metabolomics researchers specializing in the comprehensive analysis of metabolites in living organisms. Held at Kobe University, the 19th iteration drew over 330 researchers, students, and company representatives, featuring more than 100 presentations.
Takeda’s presentation focused on a technology for expressing biosynthetic gene clusters—groups of genes that produce natural products—in different microorganisms. His method enables researchers to accurately assemble long, complex genetic fragments and edit multiple genes simultaneously to increase production.
While microbially derived natural products are a vital source of pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and cancer drugs, most remain silent under conventional culture conditions. Takeda received the Best Poster Award in recognition of his method that paves the way for utilizing untapped genetic resources.
“I am truly honored to receive the award,” said Takeda. “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Satoshi Yuzawa for his ongoing guidance, as well as to my co-researchers and all the symposium organizers. In Japan, where we rely heavily on imports for pharmaceutical raw materials, securing a stable supply has been an economic security issue. I hope this research contributes to technologies that tap into the potential of living organisms and increase production of known substances.”
Released by: Office of General Affairs at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC)