NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TOKYO REGIONAL OFFICE

October 26, 2000

The National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office periodically reports on developments in Japan that are related to the Foundation's mission. It also provides occasional re-ports on developments in other East Asian countries. These reports are intended to provide information for the use of NSF program officers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF policy.

Report Memorandum #00-17

 

Genome-related Budget Request for JFY2001

 

The Science and Technology Agency of Japan (STA) has compiled budget requests for JFY2001 from ministries and agencies for genomic research.  The requested total budget amount in this field is Yen 94,659 million  (ca. US$902 million), a 57% increase from the budget of Yen 60,286 million (ca. $574 million) in JFY2000.

This large increase reflects the Japanese government's efforts to catch up with western countries in post-genomic research.  In fact, the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology (CST) established a "Panel for Discussing Strategies in Promoting Post-genomic Research" in September 2000.  The Panel will discuss the strategies until the end of the calendar year 2000. 

The breakdown of the requested budget is shown in the table below.  The figures that appear in bold are those requested under the "special framework for reviving the Japanese economy."   (see NSF Tokyo Report Memorandum #00-15 at http://www.twics.com/~nsftokyo/rm00-15).

The projects in which large amounts will be invested are: 

.              RIKEN's Genomic Sciences Center (Yen 16 billion), one of the three research centers established in RIKEN's Yokohama Institute

.             Basic research on protein sciences (Yen  Yen 5.5 billion) under the Medical Frontier Strategy project that will be promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW), mainly at the National Cancer Center Research Institute

.             A Protein Library (Yen 5 billion) and Bioinformatics Technologies (Yen 5 billion) to be promoted by METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

.              Center for Advanced Genome Information (Yen 4.5 billion) to be invested within the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST)

.              Research on immunity/allergy (Yen 3.6 billion) to be invested at the new Comprehensive Research Center at RIKEN's Life Science Laboratory in Tsukuba

.              Large-volume high-speed structural analyses of protein (Yen 3 billion) at the SPring-8 site

.             Rice Genome Simulator project (Yen 2.5 billion) to be promoted at the National Institute of Agrobiological Resources under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries (MAFF).

 

Genome-related Budget Request for JFY2001

 

                             Ministries

Request for JFY2001         (Million Yen)

Budget for JFY2000        (Million Yen)

Change

[New] Ministry of Education and Science (Request by the current Science and Technology Agency-STA)

 

 

 

  Promotion of comprehensive research on genome science at RIKEN's Genomic Sciences Center

           16,018  of which 7,852

8,688

7,330

  Promotion of research on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)

2,506

1,852

654

  Promotion of research on plant science

2,194

1,900

294

  Development of highly functional biological databases

2,664

2,698

-34

  Database on research information

121

130

-9

  Center for advanced genome information 

4,467

0

4,467

  Genomic research on effects of radiation on living organisms 

70

209

-139

  Research on radiation-sensitive genome

716

0

716

  Promotion of Frontier research on genomes (University-industry-government cooperative research under the special coordination funds for the promotion of S&T)

0

2,200

-2,200

  Promotion of comprehensive research on genome science under the Core Research for Evolutionary S&T (CREST) Program of the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST)

1,905

1,418

487

  Promotion of comprehensive research on plant science under the CREST Program

1,175

0

1,175

  Promotion of research at the Plant Science Center under the special coordination funds for the promotion of S&T

0

200

-200

  Promotion of research on immunity/allergy at RIKEN's Comprehensive Research Center on Immunity/Allergy 

3,582

0

3,582

  Large-volume high-speed structural analyses of protein at Spring-8 laboratories

2,967

0

2,967

  Frontier research on living organisms under extreme environments

798

399

399

  Activities within the Ministry

6

6

0

              Sub-total:

39,189

19,699

19,489

[New] Ministry of Education and Science (Request by the current Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture-MONBUSHO)

 

 

 

  University facilities for the promotion of genomic research

3,155

4,461

-1,306

  Grants-in-aid for scientific research at universities

             6,200  of which 1,100

5,700

500

  Genomic research projects under JSPS' Research for the Future Program

2,558

2,752

-194

              Sub-total:

11,913

12,913

-1,000

    Sub-total for the new Ministry of Education & Science:

51,102

32,613

18,489

[New] Ministry of Welfare and Labor (Request by the current Ministry of Health and Welfare)

 

 

 

  Analyses of human genome from the budget for human genome/regeneration medical research

2,832

2,581

251

  Promotion of anti-disease measures/new medicines by genome analyses

6,100

6,100

0

  Establishment of research period for basic technologies for developing epoch-making medicines

150

0

150

  Promotion of protein sciences and medical engineering research

5,543

0

5,543

                Sub-total:

14,625

8,681

5,944

Ministry of Agriculture, Forests, & Fisheries (MAFF)

 

 

 

  Manifestation of all base sequences of rice genome

             2,554 of which 470

2,084

470

  Isolation using gene map and mutant panel and elucidation of functions

400

400

0

  Isolation using gene expression monitoring and elucidation of functions

748

748

0

  Isolation using protein structure analyses and elucidation of functions

980

480

500

  Development of rice genome simulator

2,470

0

2,470

  Establishment of library for full length cDNA of rice genome

1,450

1,190

260

  Development of effective seed-selection technologies using DNA marker

372

372

0

  Development of epoch-making animals and plants using genetic modification and clone technologies

676

676

0

  Isolation of useful genes by analyses of animal genome and development of applied technologies

1,200

211

989

  Establishment of a system for producing useful materials by use of plants/animals/insects

337

337

0

  Comprehensive research on creation of new agricultural products by modifying morphological and physiological functions

408

480

-72

  Gene analyses of pathogenic microorganisms and development of applied technologies

0

73

-73

  DNA portion of MAFF's Gene Bank Project

96

96

0

               Sub-total:

11,690

7,147

4,543

[New] Ministry of Economy and Industry (Request from the current Ministry of International Trade and Industry-MITI)

 

 

 

  Analyses of microorganism genome

1,304

1,227

78

  Technological development on genome informatics

1,324

1,420

-95

  Establishment of database for searching DNA sequence for patent review

69

96

-27

  Genomic research among the special research projects at national research institutes

0

668

-668

  Genomic research among the R&D projects for promoting the creation and use of technological infrastructure

136

141

-5

  Structural analyses of full length cDNA of human beings

1,470

1,630

-160

  Functional analyses of proteins

5,000

1,340

3,660

  Analyses of standard SNPs

2,600

2,600

0

  Bioinformatics technologies

5,000

2,385

2,615

  Development of protein expression technologies

339

339

0

          Sub-total

17,242

11,846

5,397

                        GRAND TOTAL:

94,659

60,286

34,373

The separate line items may not add up to the total due to rounding errors.

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NSF/T: KShinohara
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