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*

The 168th RIKEN BRC Seminar was held at the RIKEN BioResource Research Center, Moriwaki Kazuo Hall and Zoom hybrid. Dr. Fumiko Kasuga Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University / Interfaculty Initiative in Planetary Health Former Vice President of Science Council of Japan Title: In Search of Collaboration and Cooperation in Science

The 53rd Japanese Society for Spermatology Meeting was held at Aobayama Commons Tohoku University Aobayama New Campus (Sendai, Miyagi).