Our laboratory is focusing on the effective utilization of unutilized resources
and the production of rare sugars using fermentation and enzyme technologies
produced by microorganism. Biomass is the most abundant unutilized resource
on earth, and polysaccharides make up a large portion of it. We believe
that if we can effectively utilize polysaccharides, it will provide a clue
to solving the energy problem that relies on fossil fuels and the problem
of food shortages. There are some technologies that have been studied such
as converting biomass resources into bioethanol and using it as fuel for
automobiles. We are conducting study to extract polysaccharides or monosaccharides
from biomass resources and break them down or convert them using microorganisms
or enzymatic reactions to produce rare sugars with high added value. Our
final goal is to mass-production of rare sugars from biomass resources
without any burden on the environment. Although we have not yet established
a clear usage for rare sugars, we believe that they will be used as novel
sugars in various fields in the future. Thai and Korean languages are available from each links.