Calling for more collaboration between India and Japan, Consul General of Japan Masanori Nakano expressed his hopes of the two countries working closely together in the field of biotechnology and stem cells. He was speaking at the eighth anniversary celebrations of Niche In-Centre Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) here recently.

The Consul General said that through collaboration in the field of biotechnology, Japan’s highly developed technology on biomaterials and stem cell can be combined with India’s skilled hands of researchers and clinicians. Speaking about the possibilities in this area, he pointed out that stem cells had high growth potential, not only in the present medical field but also in the rapidly growing industries all over the world.

“According to scientists, stem cells are the most promising tools in combating diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and heart disease, which are difficult to treat by conventional methods,“ he said.

Masanori Nakano lauded NCRM for their research activities and the recent affiliation with the Tamilnadu Dr MGR Medical University for a two-year post-graduate course in regenerative medicine.

The event saw a range of programmes, including presentation of papers and quiz competitions. Alagappa College of Technology won the national level quiz on stem cells for the rotating Fujio Cup Quiz that was being conducted for the eighth consecutive time this year.

Dr Koji Kono from Yamanashi University and Professor Masaharu Seno from Okayama University, Japan, presented their works on peptide vaccine for cancer and iPS cells respectively. Short lectures on application of regenerative medicine in ophthalmology and urology were delivered by Dr Parikumar and Dr Suryaprakash Vadd at the event.