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With the "Guidelines for Derivation and Utilization of Human Embryonic Stem Cells" of September 2001, Japan has become one of few countries that officially permit the research on human ES cells. The decision to permit such research is based on a well balanced consideration between the advantages towards the new medicine and the disadvantages of destroying the embryo who has a potential of life. The main ethical concern is the respect for human dignity and human rights. The whole ethical consideration comes from this standpoint, and the Guidelines set out the conditions to be respected in each research project. Because of its potential for human life, the embryos for the derivation of human ES cells, for which only frozen supernumerary embryos may be used, should be treated with full respect of its dignity. The ES cells themselves should also be used with full respect accordingly. Obtaining informed consent from the donors with possibility of withdrawal is the most important procedure. The import of human ES cells is also possible if similar conditions are fulfilled in the country of derivation. Each research project is put under a double check system, first by the IRB and then the Experts Committee on governmental level.

Policy focus gives scientists an incentive to pursue specific research subjects and influences a trend of scientific research. This study examines how public grant is allocated for stem cell research in Japan and shows that scientists are likely to advance their research toward the direction led by policy. Since Japanese scientists discovered a method to generate induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) in 2006, public financial and institutional support has skewed toward iPSC. The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for iPSC has also had an impact on policy and scientists' selection of stem cells. Scientists in the top universities are likely to select iPSC research. In addition, iPSC research obtains more amount of public grant funding than other stem cell research. However, scientists' age has no relevant impact on selecting iPSC research. Finally, this study concludes that targeted public funding skews knowledge portfolio by scientists in a nascent field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New types of devices made using thin‐film‐transistor (TFT) technology were used in this article for dielectrophoresis purpose with microbeads, yeast cells, and HepG2 cells. That technology allows obtaining centimeter size transparent substrates covered with a large and dense array of 100 µm microelectrodes individually controllable. The purpose of these devices is the development of platforms for various applications on cells and cells culture, like manipulation, sensing, monitoring, or stimulation on the same device. Dielectrophoresis is one of the applications and is a key target for precise patterning and 2D displacement of cells on the device. In this article, 2D results of dielectrophoresis with microbeads and yeast cells and device programming are described. Then, application to mammal HepG2 liver cells shows the possibility of cells patterning with such devices. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practices related to research misconduct seem to have been multiplied in recent years. Many cases of scientific fraud have been exposed publicly, and journals and academic institutions have deployed different measures worldwide in this regard. However, the influence of specific social and cultural environments on scientific fraud may vary from society to society. This article analyzes how scientists in Japan deal with accusations of scientific fraud. For such a purpose, a series of scientific fraud cases that took place in Japan has been reconstructed through diverse sources. Thus, by analyzing those cases, the social basis of scientific fraud and the most relevant aspects of Japanese cultural values and traditions, as well as the concept of honour which is deeply involved in the way Japanese scientists react when they are accused of and publicly exposed in scientific fraud situations is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews how the criteria for patentability apply to inventions involving human embryonic stem cells in both Australia and Japan, provides an analysis of the current position of the law, and discusses the possible implications in relation to the patenting of human stem cells.It also examines a recent court case, Cancer Voices Australia and another v Myriad Genetics Inc and another, the first judicial decision in Australia to consider the patentability of isolated DNA or Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) sequences that challenged the statutory provisions within the Patents Act 1990 (Cth).This article concludes that Japan is comparatively moderate in granting stem cell patents and has a far less ambiguous approach to stem cell patents than Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on several people from the field of science. It discusses the possibilities of being in the U.S. administration, of six U.S.' science officials after the 2008 presidential elections. The officials include presidential science adviser John Marburger and Elias Zerhouni, director of the U.S. National Institute of Health. It mentions the building up of a center by Japan's Ministry of Education, to help scientist Shinya Yamanaka in his stem cells research. It states that Yamanaka has recently turned the human skin cells into cells that behave like embryonic stem cells. It also mentions the steps taken by Valérie Pécresse, higher education and research minister of France which include the passing of a bill, giving more freedom to the universities.

This article compares and explores forms of ‘public’ participation in the development of bioethical governance of human embryonic stem cell research (hESR) in four Asian societies, and in doing so it contributes to the wider discussions on expertise and public inclusion. The article aims to add nuance to the concept of ‘public consultation’ by focusing on the contested meanings and relationships through which public roles and public debates are defined. The analysis seeks to go beyond a straightforward comparison by interpreting public discussions of hESR as being influenced by both local conditions and interconnected global science institutions. An adequate understanding of the public participation in debates on science requires the analysis of (a) particular reasons for scientific issues to require public discussion; (b) pressures of transnational forces; (c) variability of publics relevant to bioethical regulation; and, (d) the effects of institutionalization of bioethics. This study uses data from fieldwork conducted between 2006 and 2010 in four Asian countries. Most of the interviews were conducted in the local languages and concerned various kinds of public participation in bioethics activities, as well as the views of stem cell scientists on the need to involve the public in discussions on the acceptability of their research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the reasons for the lack of a broad discussion on bioethical regulation of human embryonic stem cell research (hESR) in Japan and asks why scientists experience difficulties accessing resources for hESR despite the acclaimed indifference of dominant Japanese culture to embryo research. The article shows how various social actors express their views on the embryo and oocyte donation in terms of dominant Japanese culture, foiled against what is regarded as Western culture. Second, it shows how the lack of concern with hESR should be understood in the context of public health policies and communications and bioethics decision making in Japan. Finally, it interprets the meaning of the embryo in the context of Japan as an aging modern welfare society, explaining how policymakers have come to emphasize the urgency of infertility problems over issues around abortion and embryonic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to debates in the West, the debate on human embryonic stem cell research (hESR) in Japan is said to be hardly existent. According to established views, the country has no cultural canons that forbid hESR, so a debate on the status of the embryo is hardly relevant to Japanese culture. The existing debate is considered crucial to science policy-makers, though monopolized by the voices of only a few social groups. Three such minority voices are: the Anti-Eugenic Network, a feminist-cum-handicapped movement; the Japanese Association for Spinal Cord Injuries; and a few radical Buddhist sects. These three groups clearly support or oppose hESR. Nevertheless the public debate is carried mainly by political interest groups that amplify and mis-quote the minority voices. These interest groups capitalize on the hopes placed on hESR in promoting financial and political support, at the same time as they aim to cure disease. The past experiences of the three social groups with Japanese politics on health are linked to promises, risk perception and doubts about the future of hESR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]