On December 11-12, Program of totipotency: From decoding to designing, 5th Public Symposium was held at the Yayoi Auditorium of the University of Tokyo. *Oral Presentation* Atsuo OGURA: Epigenomic abnormalities in somatic cell cloning revealed by analysis of placentas *Poster Session* Kimiko INOUE: Development of embryo manipulation methods toward mono-allelic genome editing technology Narumi OGONUKI: Birth of mice from meiotically arrested spermatocyte using microinjection Shogo MATOBA: Reduction of H3K9 methylation by G9a inhibitor improves the development of mouse SCNT embryos Naomi WATANABE: Establishment of ntESCs by inter-species SCNT and transcriptome analysis of their embryos Takaki TATEBE: Analysis of protein degradation systems in SCNT embryos

On November 29-December 1, Academic Transformation A: Reproductive Lifespan NextGen Scientist meeting was held at the Hirokoji Honmachi Building Hall & Conference (Nagoya, Aichi Pref.). The following two members from our laboratory gave presentations. *Oral Presentation* Takaki TATEBE: Analysis of protein degradation systems in SCNT embryos *Short Talk* Dinh Quoc PHAM: Establishment and characterization of transgenic cloned mice harboring human erythropoietin gene produced by genome editing and nuclear transfer

Dr. Horiuchi and Dr. Morishita (Ochi Yume Clinic, Nagoya) came to our laboratory for a collaboration of hamster embryo cryopreservation. We hope that our knockout hamster lines will be safely cryopreserved with a new vitrification technique.

On November 27, the Molecular Biology Society of Japan (MBSJ) online symposium was held, and Dr. Atsuo OGURA gave a lecture. Session#: O-1PS-01 “Principles and diversity of nuclear reprogramming across kingdoms” Organizer: Kei MIYAMOTO (Kindai Univ.), Momoko IKEUCHI (NAIST) Title: What does nuclear transfer tell us about genomic reprogramming?

The 33rd Molossinus Research Meeting (sponsored by RIKEN Symposium) was held at Unitopia Sasayama (Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo Pref.) on November 22-23. Dr. Atsuo OGURA gave a lecture. Title: Establishment of wild-derived mouse ES cells using nuclear transfer technology (Naomi WATANABE, Kimiko INOUE, Atsuo OGURA) Organizer: Dr. Hiroshi KIYONARI, RIKEN BDR, Laboratory for Animal Resources and Genetic Engineering The photos shown were provided by the Molossinus Research Meeting Secretariat.

On November 17, the meeting for the Sustaining Members of the Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science (JALAS) was held at the Kawasaki Life Science and Environmental Research Center (LiSE: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Pref.), where Dr. Ogura gave a lecture and discussed the potential of hamsters as laboratory animals. Theme: Preparing for the return of pandemics and the contributions of laboratory animals. Title: Golden Hamsters for Research on Infectious Diseases: Their Characteristics as Laboratory Animals Organized by: The Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science

Cryopreservation Conference 2023 -Development and implementation of the ultra-low temperature preservation methods by vitrification for the conservation of biological genetic resources- was held at Tsukuba Center for Institutes (Tsukuba, Ibaraki) on Nov. 14-15. *Oral Presentation* Keiji MOCHIDA: RIKEN BRC’s role and application of equilibrium vitrification method to space experiment *Poster Session* Ayumi HASEGAWA: Cryopreservation of unfertilized oocytes and sperm from wild-derived mouse strain Keiji MOCHIDA: Attempts of in vitro fertilization using frozen sperm of the Syrian hamster. The photos shown were provided by the Cryopreservation Conference 2023 Secretariat.

On November 10, an award ceremony of the 2023 Kyoto Prize, which honors outstanding achievements in the fields of science and the arts, was held at the Kyoto International Conference Center (Kyoto City). On the following day, November 11, a commemorative lecture by the laureates was held. In the Advanced Technology section, the prize was awarded to Professor Emeritus Ryuzo Yanagimachi of the University of Hawaii, U.S.A., for his research on mammalian fertilization mechanisms and the establishment of the ICSI technique that laid the foundation for infertility treatment. Unfortunately, however, Dr. Yanagimachi passed away on September 28 (Japan Standard Time) after the award decision was made. Dr. Hidenori Akutsu of […]

On Nov. 8, 2023, the 45th Hokkaido University Veterinary Academic Exchange Funding Lecture Series, “Mechanisms of Reproduction and Development Revealed by Animal Experiments,” was held at Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University. Dr. Atsuo OGURA gave a lecture titled: “Developmental engineering techniques for small laboratory animals and their research applications” Organizers: Prof. Masami Morimatsu and Prof. Takafumi Sunaga, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University

2023 RIKEN Tsukuba Open Campus was held onsite and online hybrid. Theme: What is the Bioresource Research Center? We held a laboratory event. *Origin of Life: Let’s Observe Ova and Sperm*