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Fundamental development

Strong and deep collaboration in the School of Pharmacy at Kumamoto University challenges the program

Fundamental development - Building a library of compounds from living marine resources
Fundamental development -
Building a library of compounds from living marine resources

Aiming to understand how living things survive and to co-exist with nature

Useful resources are not only found in plants, but are also abundant in the microorganisms living on land and in water. For example, the various microorganisms that inhabit the soil of the mudflats of Ariake Sea or in the sponges (under the sea) are believed to hold many of the seeds for new drug discoveries. Through this program, laboratories will actively collaborate with each other. Having different researchers do screenings and assessments from their own viewpoints will accelerate the progress of research. These finally lead to the discovery of a variety of seeds for therapeutic agents from natural resources (plants, microorganisms, marine organisms) and contribute to the health of everyone on earth.

Sachiko Tsukamoto
Sachiko Tsukamoto
Fundamental development "Building a library of compounds derived from marine biological resources" Central Researcher
Kumamoto University Faculty of Life Sciences (Pharmaceutical sciences group), School of Pharmacy
Professor
  • We expand the library of natural compounds by focusing on marine organisms that could include numerous new and uniquely structured agents, with the aim of eventually discovering innovative medical products and accelerating fundamental scientific research.

  • Especially notable is that Kumamoto Prefecture is home to the Ariake Sea, which has Japan's most expansive mudflats, and it is now becoming known that the large differences in sediment environment cause large changes in microbial flora. We hope to find seed compounds of Kumamoto origin from the microorganisms that inhabit the varied environments in the mudflats of the Ariake Sea or in deep ocean.

Collecting samples at the mudflat of Ariake Sea

Bacteria isolated from the mudflat soil
Fungi isolated from the mudflat soil