Mitochondria are intracellular organelles whose main role is energy production. They are thought to have originated as an intracellular symbiosis of aerobic bacteria, but as a trace of the symbiosis, mitochondria have their own gene expression system. The mitochondrial protein synthesis system has been linked to many human diseases and drug side effects. In this lecture, we will review the mechanism of the unique mitochondrial protein synthesis system and look at the recent dramatic progress in structural analysis of the mitochondrial ribosome and its medical applications.

Humans were born in Africa about 7 million years ago, and over a very long period of time, they have adapted to diverse environments and spread throughout the world. The health problems that humans have faced during this evolutionary process are related to the type of life they have led. In particular, human life has changed remarkably since the Industrial Revolution, and between the 19th and 21st centuries, the world's population has increased six-fold and average life expectancy has tripled. In this lecture, I would like to explain the history of human health issues and the concept of 'health transition', and discuss the significance of studying human health in today's society that is changing at an unprecedented speed.

In Japan, new public transportation systems have been developed and are still being developed according to the characteristics of each region: in the 1980s, a new transportation system, the Urban Monorail, was developed and put to practical use, followed by the Linear Subway and Linimo through the cooperation of industry, academia, and government, and now the FGT (Free Gauge Train) is being developed. The FGT (Free Gauge Train) is still being developed. In this lecture, we will classify these transportation systems from a technical point of view, describe the safety evaluation methods required for practical use, and discuss the future direction of overseas development.