#25 Transition to a sustainable industrial society through the use of "biodiversity"!
-New business development support to maximize the function of the ecosystem

I have loved living organisms since I was a child, and after entering university, I did fieldwork in which I went out into the field to collect, analyze, and observe living organisms. From there to the present, I have been doing basic biological research on plants and insects. So in the beginning, I never envisioned that I would be involved in entrepreneurship.

On the other hand, however, I was concerned that biodiversity was rapidly disappearing from the earth. I worried that once biodiversity is lost, it is lost forever, and that my next generation will not be able to see and study a variety of organisms.... The public did not care much about the conservation of organisms and ecosystems, and I was also concerned that simply advancing basic research would not fulfill my responsibilities as a scientist.

In the midst of all this, I was selected for Kyoto University's "Hakubi Project*" in 2010. It was a very active project that brought together researchers from diverse fields, and I was afraid that I would not be able to compete with them unless I did very aggressive research. I came up with the idea of applying technology to comprehensively visualize biodiversity using next-generation DNA sequencers to analyze how organisms interact with each other in the outdoor environment.

As part of our research, we analyzed the roots of dozens of plant species in a single forest. Since plant roots have symbionts, including fungi, we looked at what kind of ecological networks were being built underground in the forest. In total, have we detected tens of thousands of species of fungi (mushrooms and molds) and bacteria for a total of about 400 plant species so far? With such a vast amount of data, the development of techniques for analyzing it is also progressing. As I continued my research, I began to collaborate with companies, and the research I had done began to be linked to industry. Eventually, it became difficult to manage a single laboratory, and I decided to start my own company.

*The Hakubi Project: Launched in 2010, the Hakubi Project is Kyoto University's "Kyoto University Next Generation Researcher Fostering Support Program. This is an initiative to foster visionary researchers who will lead the next generation by employing outstanding young researchers as specified faculty members (associate professors and assistant professors) on an annual salary basis and providing them with a free research environment so that they can devote themselves to research.

My previous position was at the Institut Pasteur in France, where I conducted research on infectious disease epidemiology. What was strong in my mind from that time was the awareness that implementing research results in society would also help protect the future of academia. I felt this way largely because I felt that social attitudes toward academia and research were markedly different in Japan than in Europe and the United States.

When I told the general public about my research while I was in France, I was surprised when they responded, "Your research protects our lives from infectious diseases, doesn't it? In Japan, people would often ask, "What good is your research going to do? I was keenly aware of the fact that in Japan, academic research has become less important to society, with people saying, "What good is this research going to do? I thought about what I could do to solve this gap, and decided to enter a university-launched venture where I could make my own examples of how the results of research are useful in business.

To be honest, I also felt that it would be difficult to continue to eat as a researcher. In both Japan and France, researchers must survive through fierce competition in order to survive by doing only research. I decided to broaden my horizons to a non-research way of life, and officially joined the company in April 2020 as Director of Research and Development.

In fact, at the time the company was launched, the new coronavirus was just beginning to spread, and for a while we were not even allowed to enter the university where the laboratory was located. Of course, this was completely unexpected. My first task after joining the company was to write an application to get a grant to help small and medium enterprises. We didn't have a company car, of course, and I even had to pedal my bicycle to the prefectural office to submit the paperwork. It was not quite the start I had envisioned, and I worried about when we would be able to start our main business as a company, and what if the company collapsed? However, I believe that in order to work in a venture company, no matter what the situation is, you should not let your thinking become entangled. The reason for this is that venture companies, both in management and technological development, are driven by logic, but in the end they come down to the point of "you won't know until you try. The important thing is whether or not you can say, "I have no choice but to give it a try. I think I was suited to the kind of work that requires a physical, hands-on mentality.

When I assumed the position of president in March 2022, I was still concerned about what I would do with my next career if the company failed to stand on its feet... but I did not want to have any regrets when I entered the coffin. In the end, I was determined to give it a try. It is in this environment, with members of the company I can trust, that I decided to take the plunge.

We are developing projects that use the science of biodiversity to solve problems in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and infrastructure-related industries. For example, in agriculture, we focus on soil improvement and disease control. We utilize the functions of ecosystems by elucidating the ecosystems of soils that are prone to disease and those that are not, and by providing new materials using microbial resources as solutions. To measure effectiveness, we can also monitor the soil environment after materials are used. Ultimately, this will lead to reduced use of pesticides and increased yields for farmers, creating a business model that is both environmentally and economically sustainable. This business model allows for individualized intervention, such as the development and provision of devices to improve feed and water quality management in the fisheries industry, and planning for afforestation in the forestry industry.