Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President: Masatomo Nakamura) establishes a large-scale enclosed greenhouse on the site of Komatsushima Mill and is commencing the cultivation of research samples of transgenic rice plants for the treatment of Japanese cedar pollen allergy*1, under contract for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF).

 

One out of every five or six people in Japan is believed to be suffering from pollen allergy, which appears to be growing in prevalence throughout the nation. The Japanese government has been working to provide an effective response to the issue.

The MAFF is now endeavoring to find practical application for transgenic rice plants, which alleviate pollen allergy through dietary treatment, for the treatment of Japanese cedar pollen allergy. Transgenic and other biotechnologies are being used in the initiative, and research into this rice is being pursued as a key element of the Reseach for the utilization and industrialization of agricultural biotechnology.

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. has been developing a transgenic rice plant for the treatment of Japanese cedar pollen allergy jointly with the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, using its unique transgenic technology MAT Vector ®*2. In animal tests using mice, the developed rice has shown efficacy in alleviating the symptoms of Japanese cedar pollen allergy. Expectations are high that the research will move towards application with human subjects.

 

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. is building a large greenhouse with a farming area of 500 square meters on the site of Komatsushima Mill, to create an efficient production system for the transgenic rice plant for the treatment of Japanese cedar pollen. Cultivation of the rice to the third crop is possible in this large greenhouse by controlling the temperature and lighting, with an expected annual yield of 700 kilograms.

Cultivation of the transgenic rice plant for the treatment of Japanese cedar pollen allergy to be used in safety and efficacy tests will start in January 2007.

The objective is to achieve practical application in the future, after completing the necessary procedures for cultivating transgenic crops.

 

*1 Transgenic rice plant for the treatment of Japanese cedar pollen allergy: this type of rice has the component needed to enable human antibody to recognize pollen as a foreign matter (epitope), created through transgenic technologies. By consuming the rice regularly, the human body becomes gradually accustomed to pollen that has come into the antibody, thereby suppressing allergic reactions. This treatment is less invasive compared with injection and other techniques, with fewer side effects, and is expected to enable more effective treatment.

 

*2 MAT Vector ® System: a technology to incorporate only useful genes in a transgenic process, without remnant of unneeded genes.