Life Science & Medical Technology

A major component in liquid glue dramatically increases the effects of cancer radiation therapy, a research team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has discovered.

A Japanese researcher who won the Nobel Prize for his work with stem cells said in a speech Tuesday that developing advanced medical treatments needs to become faster and cheaper.

By day, he is the chief executive officer of a Tokyo startup. At night and on weekends, he works shifts as a doctor. He wants to keep it that way because he needs both to stay in balance.

Takeda Pharmaceutical plans to become the first Japanese drugmaker to market vaccines on a global scale, taking advantage of access to new sales channels gained from its acquisition of Irish peer Shire last year.

A Japanese research team has developed a new method to inhibit vomiting and nausea in patients after they are administered anticancer drugs.

Japan prides itself on having the world’s lowest birth mortality rates for women and infants, but a decline in facilities staffed with obstetricians and gynecologists, as well as the advancing age of first-time mothers here, has raised growing doubts about the future of that claim.These concerns sparked entrepreneur Yhuko Ogata of Kagawa Prefecture, who commercialized Japan’s first electronic medical record software for obstetricians and gynecologists, to seek ways to address this growing uncertainty through remote pregnancy monitoring.

A team of scientists at the Riken research institute has found a link between extended stays in a weightless condition and a decrease in immune cell production, which could impact astronauts' health on long-term spaceflights.

A science ministry committee on Monday approved a research program to grow human organs, such as the pancreas, inside the bodies of pigs for use in medical transplantation.

The health ministry will start full-genome analysis of the gene information of patients with cancer and other intractable diseases to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatments, under an action plan announced Dec. 20.

Researchers here have developed a method for treating heart failure that involves spraying cultured stem cells directly on the heart of a patient.