Providing new solutions for global challenges
The loss of biodiversity as well as global warming is seen with concern in the world as one of the most critical challenges facing humankind in the 21st century. Scientific communities have warned about the grave consequences the environmental issues may cause since the end of the 20th century. Now, there is a rapidly growing consensus in our society that we are running short of time.
Decarbonization efforts to combat global warming have progressed from the "social recognition of the problem" stage, through "risk assessment including political and economic aspects" to the "implementation of comprehensive approaches to achieve the goal" stage. Regarding the crisis of biodiversity loss, countries around the world have begun to cooperate through the similar developmental stages we saw in the issues of global warming. More efforts are expected to realize a "nature-positive" society that restores ecosystems on the Earth.
"Decarbonization"
ーDecarbonizationー
"Biodiversity crisis"
ーBiodiversity Crisisー
Diverse organisms support our lives in terms of food production, health, disaster prevention, environmental purification, resource recycling, and mental fulfillment. However, the ecosystem functions of diverse organisms, which have evolved on the Earth over nearly 4 billion years, are now being rapidly lost
Now that the international community has gained a common understanding of this biodiversity crisis, it has become imperative to assess the risks associated with social and economic activities. As the next step, specific scientific and technological solutions need to be created and promptly implemented in society.
Sunlit Seedlings has integrated technologies from a wide range of scientific fields. With the interdisciplinary approach, we will elucidate the hidden functions of biodiversity and design sustainable industries from the perspectives of information and practical technologies. By applying resource-recycling technologies utilizing previously untapped biological functions to agriculture and the environment, we aim to create the future of global society in which sustainable industrial activities are kept with the functions of biodiversity and ecosystems.
17th World Economic Forum
From Global Risks Report 2022
Our Mission
1. Objectively understand the ecosystems, biodiversity, and resource cycles on the Earth
2. Establish scientific solutions based on backcasting strategies for the medium- or long-term global challenges
3. Promote social implementation of the solutions with economic incentives
Integrating multiple scientific disciplines: ecology, genomics and network science.
Ecology provides a bird's-eye view of global biodiversity and ecosystem structure through field surveys. Genomics deciphers DNA information to reveal biological functions. Network science unravels the complex structure of the entire ecosystem on the basis of big data.
With the integrated scientific approach based on ecology, genomics and network science, we provide new strategies and technologies to solve global environmental issues. Based on the scientific platform, we promote sustainable industries and support development of new businesses.
Our challenge
Ecosystem Regeneration
Abandoned forest restoration
Biodiversity strategies
Greening of wasteland
Wetland restoration
Health & Medical Care
Intestinal bacteria
Drug discovery
Field study
Food & Brewing
Aquaculture
Crops
Fermented food
Next Generation Agriculture
Food diversity
Sustainable agriculture
Agroforestry
Soil improvement
Energy & Environment
Green infrastructure
Renewable energy with environmental conservation
Water purification using activated sludge
Conventional agriculture and bioengineering have focused on the properties and functions of individual species and sought ways to use them. However, no organism lives in isolation. The genome of each species is inscribed with properties that have been formed through interactions with many other species. Therefore, understanding the state of the ecosystem is a prerequisite for maximizing and adaptively managing functions provided by organisms.
With the emerging technologies of high-throughput DNA analysis, a vast amount of data on biological species has been made available. We have integrated genomics and information science technologies to analyze the whole structure of the entangled webs of interactions between species. We have organized databases of complex ecosystem structure and dynamics.
This new set of technologies for elucidating biodiversity and ecosystems is expected to support sustainable economic activities in a wide range of industrial sectors. For example, analyzing the dynamics of soil biomes, which have been considered as "black boxes" in nature, enables us to assess the risk of disease outbreaks and the potential for microorganisms to transfer fertilizer to crops on the target farmland. Concomitantly, identification and utilization of symbiotic microorganisms that play a central role in soil ecosystems are expected to improve resource-use efficiency in the target farmland.
The technologies that provide the bird-eye view of the whole ecosystem can be applied to diverse fields such as the management of aquaculture systems, the regeneration of degraded natural ecosystems, the design of urban green areas and the resource exploration for drug development. Those applications will expand the range of sustainable industries utilizing the functions of biodiversity. We aim to propose societies in which biodiversity draws more attention at the core of economic activities, leading to the future where healthy ecosystems are maintained and succeeded on the Earth.