We carry out life and environmental research for a brighter tomorrow
RIKEN Yokohama is the hub for RIKEN’s life science research activities, where we carry out research on matters essential to humans—health and medicine, environment and food.
Established in 2000, RIKEN Yokohama is a relatively young institute. We are equipped with large-scale, advanced facilities and employ people from all over the world.
We are also committed to communicating our research results to the public and contribute our knowledge to the local community in various ways.
Us in A Nutshell
How many researchers do you have?
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We have a total of 750* full-time researchers in our three centers. There are also supporting technical staff (including the people who oversee safety matters) and administrative staff, accounting for an additional few hundred people here.
*as of October 2019
What are those strange hexagon-shaped huts?
They house NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) instruments, which give off a strong magnetic field. The buildings are made of wood to maintain magnetic field integrity. The instruments are used to determine the physical structure of proteins and other molecules. You can tour these building on our annual Open Day.
Contributions to decoding the human genome
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RIKEN was a major contributor to the Human Genome Project, which successfully determined the sequence of the human genome. One of our centers (known as the Genomics Science from 1998–2008) was one of six research centers worldwide that analyzed the large volumes of sequence data for the project under the project’s International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium.
Development of a humanized mouse
Our Research Center for Allergy and Immunology (2001–2013, now part of the Center for Integrative Medical Sciences) succeeded in developing a humanized mouse, which is a mouse with a human immunology system. Such humanized mice can be used in studies to determine the most effective medicines and in other research for which human clinical studies were previously not possible.
How many foreign researchers do you have?
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Researchers from 31* countries around the world do their work at RIKEN Yokohama. We also host PhD students from our international partner universities.
*as of October 2019
