Biotechnology has made rapid progress over the last quarter of the twentieth century. Much of this success is due to the expectation that the development of new technologies can produce various compounds beneficial to the daily lives of human beings and in preserving the environmental health of the earth. The aim of the Department of Biotechnology, which is a unique department in the Faculty of Engineering in Japanese universities in that its academic disciplines are based on biology in addition to physics and chemistry, is to develop new technologies in biotechnology and to educate students in this area.
Our efforts are dedicated to elucidating various biological mechanisms and to determining their utilization in the interests of human welfare. In this regard, various scientific and technical advances in the area of industrial application are currently in progress. Our interest has expanded, through recent progress in the biological sciences, from the use microorganisms to include the industrial application of plant and animal cell cultures.
The Department is challenged by the task of creating new technologies and procedures for the production of various materials useful in the fields of medicine and food processing, for the effective usage of agricultural and forestry bio-mass as commodity chemicals, and for solving the problems of environmental pollution.
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