Ms. Mone Ishida, a first-year master's student of the Laboratory of Integrated Biology in the Department of Integrated Biosciences, received the Outstanding Poster Award at the 1^st Conference of the Japan Mendel Society held on June 15, 2024.

Awardee: Mone Ishida
Supervisor: Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga
Presentation Title: Construction of a Primary Symbiosis by Coculture with Cultured Animal Cells and Cyanobacteria 
Name of Conference: The 1^st Conference of the Japan Mendel Society
Presentation Location and Date: October 15 at Japan Women's University

Ms. Mone Ishida reported that she succeeded in reproducing a primary symbiosis, which occurred in ancient times, in the laboratory. Primary symbiosis is considered a process in which photosynthetic bacteria, similar to cyanobacteria, are incorporated in primitive eukaryotes, and the incorporated photosynthetic bacteria evolved into the chloroplast. This research has a big impact on biology, including synthetic biology, and promises applications for environmental sciences and medical fields.

Message from Awardee:
It is a great honor for me to receive this award. I would like to express my deepest appreciation for all the support from my supervisor, Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga, colleagues, and staff of the laboratory. I will continue to make even greater efforts in research so that outcomes will be returned to society.