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>ListStudents will continuously conduct their research and express themselves to the world through their research.
Manai will not have one time table for all the students.
Students will spend their time centralized on their own research while participating in Manai’s workshop and experiments.
A new cure for Hepatitis B using nanoparticles
There are about 350 million people with continuous infection of Hepatitis B, and about 700 thousand people die from it each year. Yet, a direct and effective cure has not been established for this disease. Here, we propose a new direct cure for Hepatitis B using nanoparticles.
In this new method, we functionalize magnetic cobalt ferrite nanoparticles to have ligands of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). We inject the functionalized nanoparticles directly into the liver, and the nanoparticles bind to HBsAg. Applying a magnetic field, we focus the magnetic nanoparticles bound to HBsAg to a specific location within the liver. Then, by manipulating the magnetic field in order to vibrate the nanoparticles, the heat is generated. We hypothesize that HBsAg bound to the nanoparticles will be killed by the generated heat and we can achieve a direct cure for Hepatitis B.
Neuroregeneration to cure paralysis
Paralysis is a loss of control of one or more muscles, caused by damage in the nervous system. It often affects people permanently. We suggest neuroregeneration as a way to fix paralysis.
We hypothesise that by using monocyte signaling on nerve damage, we can activate CCL2 protein, resulting in neuroregeneration. CCL2 monocytes are basic white blood cells that go to the neurons and are thought to have neuroregeneration properties.
Neuroregeneration is also thought to be applicable to many other diseases. It is thought to be able to cure cerebral palsy by targeting the parts of the brain that are damaged parts. It may also contribute to the curing of mental health diseases that are caused by neuron damage, like Alzheimer’s.
Building Failure Detection
We are unable to tell how damaged a building is just by looking at it. Building failure destruction has the danger to cause many casualties at once. This group thought of a technology to detect damage in buildings before they collapse.
Ultrasonic/gamma ray testing are ways that don’t require samplings to see how damaged the buildings are. By inspecting the vibrations, they are able to see if there are any cracks. However, this method requires the evacuation of the building, as well as the skill of the inspector.
This group wants to revolutionize visual inspection. They claim that by using computer vision and deep learning, they can find a more efficient way to detect damage through visual vibrometry. In this case, they need to feed the computer videos of the waves that bounce back from damaged and non damaged buildings, from multiple angles. By surrounding the video with cameras and filming them, they can retrieve the necessary data and create a universal library. By combining deep learning with computer vision, which can be used to recognize, analyze, and build a 3D reconstruction of the building, they believe that they can simulate the conditions of the buildings on the computer.
Treating bacterial infections using bacteriophages and carbon nanotubes
Superbugs are strains of bacteria that are resistant to the majority of antibiotics available. Pseudomonas in particular, targets humans with weakened immune systems and is a leading cause of infections for patients hospitalised for over 1 week. Recent advances in material sciences have provided novel opportunities to treat superbug infections such as the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nano-sized cylinders made of pure carbon that have been shown to kill bacteria (e.g. E.coli) due to their sharp edges. However, delivering CNTs into the body in a way that the CNTs only target pseudomonas cells has not been established. To overcome this, we propose using PM2, a virus that specifically targets pseudomonas cells. We will use established gene editing techniques to attach CNTs to the DNA of PM2 virus to target and deliver CNTs into pseudomonas cells. We will conduct control experiments to show (i) genetically modified PM2 virus still targets pseudomonas and that (ii) CNTs by themselves are able to kill pseudomonas. We will then test how effective and safe of our CNT-PM2 virus is in killing pseudomonas. We hypothesise that we can use the pseudomonas-specific virus PM2 as a delivery mechanism to introduce the antibacterial CNTs into pseudomonas cells without harming mammalian cells in the process.
Assessment Period
Before the official enrollment of the institute, there will be a six-months assessment period. Students’ ability, interest and passion will be looked at and only those who are serious about researching at Manai will be able to enroll.
“Senpai” system
Every student will be assigned an outside Mentor (“Senpai”). The “Senpai” will not only support financially, but also with career prospects and learning as a whole.
The entire world is the campus
Students will not only research at the Manai Base, but will also be able to research at affiliated institutes, universities, companies depending on the contents of the research.
Contact Us
“Talent is something the society breeds and using those talents for the society is how to give back”
is the shared understanding who will act as a “Senpai” and support the students.
Each student who pass the assessment period and enroll to Manai will be assigned their own “Senpai.”
“Senpai,” as experienced member of the society, will help lead the students in their activities.
Specific roles of “Senpai” are:
- Building relationship with the student
- Financial support for the student’s learning
- Providing access to their network
“Senpai” will be able to give back to the society through the talented Manai student - expanding their communities and field through the student.
We believe that for the students during their impressionable times being able to receive support and walk through this time together, will be extremely memorable and impactful.
Manai Tokyo Base @ Ichigaya
〒162-0843
Kindaikagakusya Building 8F, 2-7-15, Ichigayatamachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan