Setsurotech, a venture company founded in 2017 at the University of Tokushima to develop and apply genome-editing technologies, will develop sheep in collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Mongolian University of Life Sciences, the Faculty of Animal Science and Biotechnology of the same university, and the National Animal Genebank Center of Mongolia. The collaboration will use genome-editing technology to improve cashmere sheep in order to improve the quality of cashmere fiber.

The company is also working with a research team at Nagoya University to test the insertion of genome-editing gene cassettes into fertilized Shiba goats' (Capra Linnaeus) ova using the GEEP method. Previously, gene cassettes were injected into each fertilized ovum with a needle, known as microinjection, but GEEP, an electroporation method, uses electricity to insert genes into fertilized ova, said to be more efficient. The company says it has initiated work on genome editing in bovine family Shiba goats using this method, that the experiment succeeded, and that the method will be applied in sheep experiments in Mongolia.

In addition, Setsurotech has proposed the development of genome-edited flowers, and this has been selected for the feasibility study of the Aichi Agricultural Innovation Project. Adopted was a new flower variety development using ST8, a proprietary genome editing factor, for which the company holds the patent rights. The company proposed development using ST8 instead of CRISPR-Cas9, which entails the payment of royalties. The aim is to develop flowers of differing colors to produce unique local varieties. ST8 is also scheduled to be used to improve cashmere sheep in Mongolia. (Setsurotech 2022/10/13)

Much attention has been paid to trends in Corteva, which manages related patents, regarding the development of genome-edited crops. At an international symposium held on September 10, saying that different countries have different regulations for genome-edited crops, creating a bottleneck toward practical use, the company raised the importance of formulating uniform international rules for the technology.
(Nikkei Biotech 2022/9/13)

On September 19, the Indonesian government announced a plan to expand oy cultivation areas, currently 67,000 ha, to one million ha. The government says it will promote the introduction of high-yield varieties, including GM soy.
(NNA ASIA Asia Economic News 2022/9/21)

Nippon Ham announced on October 4 that it has developed a new culture medium for cultured meat. The company says it will be able to overcome both the problem of the high cost of culture media, which has been a bottleneck in the development of cell-cultured meat, and the problem of the impact on food safety of using cow serum. Nippon Ham says the culture will be developed from food-derived materials and will cost about one-twentieth the price of conventional products. However, the company has not disclosed what the solution is made from due to the pending patent.

In the realm of human insect consumption, cricket-based foods are being developed at a rapid pace. Recently, on September 20, ecologgie Inc. announced the commercialization of cricket powder-containing chocolate. TAKEO also opened an insect-eating station named TAKE-NOKO in the Asakusa district of Tokyo.