Chuo University and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) have started a five-year joint research initiative to discover new natural products from marine organisms. The project aims to find previously unknown substances from organisms attached to ship hulls and other surfaces. The partners hope these discoveries could lead to new medicinal resources and other beneficial applications.
Preliminary Success
This new partnership is an expansion of a pilot project that began in 2023. In that initial phase, NYK and the Iwasaki Laboratory at Chuo University’s Department of Applied Chemistry collected and analyzed marine organisms. They successfully identified a new natural substance and collaborated with a research group at the University of Tokyo to study its effects. Preliminary results, presented at a conference in March 2025, show that the substance inhibits the growth of the pathogen that causes African sleeping sickness, a disease classified as a “neglected tropical disease.”
Roles in the Five-Year Research Agreement
Under the formal five-year agreement, the Iwasaki Laboratory at Chuo University will lead the scientific work, which includes collecting marine organisms, discovering new substances, and evaluating their potential uses. NYK’s main role will be to assist in the collection of these marine organisms, leveraging its access to ship hulls and other surfaces.
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Source: NYK
