Nov 20 2020

Professor Tsutomu Sato and Assistant Professor Daijiro Ueda of the Faculty of Agriculture (Bioorganic chemistry), Assistant Professor Yoshito Kakihara of the Faculty of Dentistry, Associate Professor Takashi Hara of the Faculty of Agriculture, and Dr. Tadasu Yamada and Dr. Yuko Tajima of the National Museum of Nature and Science collaborated to establish an artificial system for the biosynthesis of ambergris, a “phantom fine fragrance/Chinese medicine” derived from sperm whales, and discovered its new biological activities, potentially leading to the improvement of bone metabolism and drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease. Their achievements should promote the utilization of ambergris as a fragrance or medicine. The data were published in Scientific Reports on November 12, 2020.

Publication Details

Title: Construction of an artificial system for ambrein biosynthesis and investigation of some biological activities of ambrein
Journal: Scientific Reports
Authors: Yota Yamabe, Yukina Kawagoe, Kotone Okuno, Mao Inoue, Kanako Chikaoka, Daijiro Ueda, Yuko Tajima, Tadasu K. Yamada, Yoshito Kakihara, Takashi Hara, Tsutomu Sato
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76624-y