Seiji Takahashi, associate professor at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Engineering, recently received the Japan Bioindustry Association’s 1st Bioindustry Research Award for his joint research with Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110), which shed light on natural rubber biosynthesis mechanisms and in vitro rubber synthesis. The research revealed that three types of protein play a major role in the biosynthetic mechanism…