NATURE PUBLISHING INDEX 2011 | ASIA-PACIFIC ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE RIKEN KEEPING JAPAN AT THE FOREFRONT When Japan’s SPring-8 Angstrom Institute for Computational Science (AICS) with the right symmetry and size and Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA) in Kobe. Expected to be completed in the even formed synapses. Startlingly, the produced a high-intensity light at 1.2 fall 2012, it is the first computer to reach cells also folded over to form the three- Angstroms in June 2011, scientists moved computation speed of 10 petaflops. In dimensional cup1. “It was very similar to a step closer to having a highly powerful June 2011, this computer was crowned what you see in the embryo. It was reca- x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) to image the world’s fastest, and even in the rap- pitulating development,” says Sasai. miniature structures at scales not pos- idly changing world of supercomputers, it In the long term, various retinal dis- sible with other devices. Because of its retained that top rank in November 2011 eases could be treated by transplanting advantages, i.e. the short wavelengths by an easy margin — it is more powerful artificial tissue. Shorter term, artificial eyes and short pulses, XFEL make it possible, than the next seven supercomputers on developed from cells of patients with eye- for example, to visualize the movement the TOP500 list combined. related genetic diseases could be used to of microstructures in biological cells and study such diseases and test candidate electron dynamics in materials. Based at Pioneers pushing the boundaries drugs for their treatment. the RIKEN Harima Institute, SACLA will be RIKEN’s human resources, however, make For scientists, the achievement also opened in March 2012 to scientists from it a true powerhouse. Some 400 principal provided evidence to settle an age-old Japan and abroad. Applications resulting investigators, all leaders in their respec- debate. During development, do cells from work at SACLA could range from tive fields, earnestly carry the weight of such as retinal precursor cells drive them- drug development to new materials used responsibility for keeping Japan at the selves toward tissue creation or do they to create renewable energy. cutting edge. depend on signals from neighboring tis- SACLA is just one example of the invest- A leading example is Yoshiki Sasai, the sues? This experiment suggests that “cells ments that RIKEN has made to remain principal investigator of the Laboratory know what to make, and they know it at a at the forefront of international scientific for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis at very high level,” says Sasai. This clearly has developments. Established in 1917 as a RIKEN’s Center for Developmental Biology implications for other tissues and a wide physics and chemistry research institute, (CDB) in the RIKEN Kobe Institute. Sasai’s body of researchers across the globe. RIKEN subsequently expanded into bio- group surprised stem cell and develop- Being at RIKEN stimulated Sasai’s work. logical and other sciences. The 19 research mental biologists around the world last Discussions with experts in fetal develop- institutes, centers and programs located at year when it created an optic cup in vitro. ment allowed him to merge “cutting-edge RIKEN’s 7 institutes now form a major core As reported in the journal Nature, the re- technology of embryology and stem cell of Japan’s vigorous research community. searchers started with mouse embryonic biology.” He looked even further afield Take, for instance, the ‘K computer’, the stem cells and coaxed them to form all within RIKEN for help in understanding renowned fruit of a collaboration between seven retinal cell types of a cup-shaped the complex physics of the incredible phe- Fujitsu Limited and RIKEN Advanced organ. To Sasai’s surprise, the cells aligned nomenon he was observing. Taiji Adachi, Advertiser retains sole responsibility for content ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE NATURE PUBLISHING INDEX 2011 | ASIA-PACIFIC a former head of RIKEN’s Computational Most recently, the group’s research Nori says that showing the dynamical Cell Biomechanics Team at the RIKEN featured in the discovery that some- Casimir effect is just one indication of the Wako Institute in Saitama and currently a thing can come from nothing. All space, potentially far-reaching applications of professor at Kyoto University, offered math- including the vacuum, has long been these artificial atoms3. “This effect is like ematical modeling. “The combination of known to teem with the activity of eva- attaching voltmeters, wires, and current different expertise and environment gave nescent “virtual” particles — a creation of generators to giant atoms,” he says. us a lot of stimulation and clues for doing quantum fluctuations that flip in and out The work has earned international this kind of work,” says Sasai. of existence. “These fluctuations, how- recognition. Not only was it published in Sasai is now sought globally for techni- ever fleeting, are the origin of some of the Nature, it saw quantum physics claim front- cal consultation with industry, research most important physical processes in the page space in major international news- guidance, and collaborations. He looks universe,” says Nori. But researchers had papers. The study also ranked in the top forward to working with CDB’s Masayo failed to observe directly the quantum five “breakthroughs of the year” in Physics Takahashi, who has long focused on properties of this vacuum state. World, and became the “most read news retinal regeneration, for application to Nori’s team succeeded using super- story of 2011” on Nature News. Nori says humans. With other achievements under conducting circuit devices, which could the team had to work hard —“more perspi- his belt — including creating an artificial modulate the boundary conditions of ration than inspiration, unfortunately.” Still, cerebral cortex and pituitary gland — his the electromagnetic field with velocities many of his most successful prodigies keep influence is set to grow. near the speed of light — fast enough to returning to RIKEN for inspiration, he says. Franco Nori, who came from the achieve the “dynamical Casimir effect,” by With such infrastructure and inspira- University of Michigan to head the which virtual photons are converted into tion, RIKEN continues to build the founda- Digital Materials Team at RIKEN Advanced real light2. tion of Japan’s scientific future. Science Institute (ASI) in the RIKEN Wako As formulated originally, achieving the Institute in 2002, has likewise found fertile, dynamical Casimir effect would require 1. M. Eiraku, et al. Nature 472, 51–56 (2011) interdisciplinary ground in RIKEN’s “out- a mirror moving near the speed of light. 2. C.M. Wilson, et al. Nature 479, 376–379 (2011) standing research environment.” To carry Nori’s team used a different method, based 3. J.Q. You & F. Nori, Nature 474, 589–597 (2011) out his seminal research in quantum cir- on a new and rapidly advancing field of cuitry, atomic physics, and energy-related physics in which certain circuits on chips fields such as solar cells, light-to-electricity behave like artificial atoms. According to conversion, and proton pumps, he moti- Nori, these artificial atoms can be designed RIKEN vated researchers from different back- to have specific properties not found in www.riken.jp www.rikenresearch.riken.jp grounds and sub-fields to work together natural atoms, and can be used to study www.lifeatriken.com in new and interdisciplinary areas. atomic and quantum phenomena. Advertiser retains sole responsibility for content.