RIKEN Science Lectures 2026 “Life Course: The Mysteries of the Cycle of Life.” RIKEN holds an annual “Science Lecture Series” aimed primarily at middle school, high school, and college students to introduce them to its research activities. In 2026, the event was held at the Miraikan (Koto Ward, Tokyo) and was also streamed live on Aug. 30. Theme: “Life Course: The Mysteries of the Cycle of Life.” Dr. Kimiko Inoue, Director of our lab, gave a lecture. Title: Can an Organism Be Born from a Single Cell? What Is Developmental Engineering?

The 2026 Annual Meeting of “Early Embryo Developmental Strategy” (Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B)) was held from August 24 to 26 at Kagetsu Highland Hotel in Fukushima. Shogo Matoba, Hyeong-Ju You, and Pham Dinh Quoc from our laboratory participated as guests from the Transformative Research Areas (A) project “Next Generation Bioengineering.”

The 15th International Symposium on Spermatology (Sparmatology 2026) was held at University of Birmingham (Birmingham, UK) on Jul. 29-Aug. 2. Ms. Ogonuki was from our lab participated and gave a poster presentation. *Poster Presentation* Narumi OGONUKI: Injection into immature oocytes rescues spermatocyte arrest at mid-diplotene or later in azoospermic mutant mice

2026 Korean Association for Laboratory Animal Science (KALAS) International Symposium was held at International Convention Center Jeju (Jeju, Korea) on July 14-17. Dr. Atsuo Ogura and Dr. Fumio Ike from our lab attended the symposium and gave presentations. *Plenary Lecture 1 [KMPC]* Atsuo OGURA: “Advances in Reproductive Engineering: From Gametes to Offspring” *Symposium 6 (KALAS-JALAS)* Fumio IKE: “SPF: A Clean Yet Constrained Microbial World”

International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2026 Annual Meeting was held at Montreal Convention Center (Montreal, Canada) on July 8-11. Dr. Shogo Matoba from our lab participated and gave a poster presentation. *Poster Presentation* Shogo MATOBA: Derivation of embryonic stem cells from cloned blastocysts using improved somatic cell nuclear transfer with epigenetic modulation in common marmosets

The 13th Wakate BRC Conference (WBC) was held at Moriwaki Hall (RIKEN Tsukuba) and Zoom (Hybrid) on Jul. 3rd. Joint plans were also made with the RIKEN Mutual Benefit Society Tsukuba Division: donuts and beverages for heatstroke prevention were provided during hydration break. In the evening, a social event was held with drinks and food (hosted by the Life Science Research Promotion Division). Dr. Hyeong-Ju You (Representative: Dr. Matoba) and Ms. Niina Suzuki introduced themselves as new members, and the following members gave poster presentations. *Poster Presentations* Kimiko INOUE: Spliceosome mis-activation observed in somatic cell nuclear transferred (SCNT) embryos Michiko HIROSE: The advantages and applications of the hamster as a […]

The 4th Annual Meeting: Dynamic reproductive lifespan -Life-long changes and fluctuations in germ cell function and risk for next generation- (Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A) FY 2023–2027) was held at the Tsukuba Center for Institutes (Tsukuba, Ibaraki) on July 1-3. Dr. Kimiko INOUE, Dr. Satoshi FUNAYA and Dr. Atsuo OGURA participated from our lab. *Oral Presentation* Kimiko INOUE: Manipulation of reproductive lifespan through reproductive engineering technologies *Special Lecture* Atsuo OGURA: New insights into reproductive biology from hamsters

The 20th International Conference on Animal Reproduction(ICAR 2026) was held at Tokachi Plaza and other (Obihiro City, Hokkaido) on June 22–26. From our lab, presented the following. *Poster Presentations* Category 4. Embryogenesis and differentiation Kimiko INOUE: Impeding spliceosome mis-activation during minor zygotic gene activation improves mouse somatic cell nuclear transfer Dinh Quoc Pham: Paused embryonic stem cells induced by mTOR inhibition enable efficient nuclear transfer cloning of mice Category 28. Reproduction of exotic animals and wild species Michiko HIROSE: The advantages and applications of the golden hamster as a model for reproductive biology

The 34th Annual Meeting and 67th Lecture of Tsukuba Association for Laboratory Animals Science (TALAS) was held at the Tsukuba Center for Institutes (Tsukuba, Ibaraki) on June 19th. Theme of the 67th Lecture: From Heritage and Co-creation to New Beginnings Dr. Hyeong-Ju You and Mr. Pham Dinh Quoc from our laboratory gave oral presentations. Mr. Pham Dinh Quoc won the Techniplast Oral Presentation Award. *Oral Presentations* Hyeong-Ju You: Disruption of early embryonic development in mice by PMMA nanoplastics in an oxidative stress mechanism Pham Dinh Quoc: Paused embryonic stem cells induced by mTORC1/2 inhibition enable efficient and uniform nuclear transfer cloning of knockout/knockin mice