What is going on with Japan?

Considering that Japan is one of the world's most important scientific nations, its DNA sequencing capacity is surprisingly low. There are more sequencing machines in the Netherlands or in Spain, both of which spend only a fraction of what Japan does on research and development (R&D).

In this post, I ask whether sequencing in Japan really is as neglected as this suggests, or whether the reality is less gloomy.

Is the scarcity of sequencing machines due to  Japan focussing on things other than the life sciences? Hardly: Japan is consideredto rank amongst the five leading countries in the world in healthcare, medical science, the life sciences, and biotechnology. According to the OECD, there are more biotechnology companies in Japan than in any other country except the United States.

 

If weakness in the life sciences generally is not the reason, what causes Nippon's neglect of sequencing? The answer seems to be a recent lack of growth in the biotechnology and medical sectors, combined with a scarcity of public funding for genomics.

For example Takara, a large biotechnology company that offers sequencing services on several Illumina and SOLiD machines, has seen sales stagnate for years. The (at least perceived) lack of funding for genomics in the public sector becomes apparent from the case of Yusuke Nakamura, a highly cited Japanese geneticist. Earlier this year, he quit his positions as the head of the government's Office of Medical Innovation and at Tokyo University for the University of Chicago. Nakamura says that what he perceived to be a lack of government support for genomics contributed to his decision to leave the country.

The outlook for sequencing for Japan in not all dark. For example, Hokkaido System Science, a company that provides DNA synthesis and sequencing services, is flourishingand aims to expand internationally. And then there is of course Riken, Japan's flagship natural sciences research institute, whose impressive infrastructure includes ten next generation sequencers.

Will Japan's genomics revival come from a large government push, from the private sector, or not at all? For now, it seems impossible to tell.

Future plans

I am also considering reviewing the state of DNA sequencing in Canada, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom,  and, if I feel up the challenge, the United States. Would there be any interest in this?