On April 27, Professor MA Jian Feng from the Plant Stress Physiology Group of the Institute of Plant Science and Resources at Okayama University attended the awards ceremony of the first “Frontiers Planet Prize” held in Montreux, Switzerland, together with President NASU Yasutomo and other invited guests. He was given the prize medal by the Chair of the Jury Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström, an environmental scientist who is also a leading expert in studies on global sustainability.

This prize was established by the Frontiers Research Foundation*1 in 2022 for the purpose of encouraging research on global sustainability. The winners are selected from among the relevant research papers published in the past two years throughout the world. This time, 100 members of the jury reviewed research papers recommended by approximately 240 universities and research institutes, and 20 National Champions were eventually selected. Furthermore, four International Champions were selected from among the finalists. Professor Ma was selected as the National Champion of Japan.

Professor Ma conducted research with the support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s Grants-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research and Scientific Research (S). As a result, he published a research paper “Duplication of a manganese/cadmium transporter gene that reduces cadmium accumulation in rice grain”*2 in Nature Food in 2022. He received this prize as a result of this highly valuable research.

Professor Ma focused on cadmium in his study ¬– a toxic heavy metal that causes Itai-Itai disease, etc. Even now, many soils in the world have been contaminated by cadmium due to urbanization and industrialization, where crops containing cadmium that exceeds the standard value are produced, threatening human health. Since nearly half of the cadmium that we take up is derived from rice, reducing the cadmium in rice is a very important challenge to ensure good health. This research identified a gene related to the low accumulation of cadmium using a genotypic difference in the accumulation of cadmium in rice plants. Furthermore, a rice line with low cadmium accumulation, but without penalty of yield and eating quality was bred through introgression of this gene into an elite rice cultivar, Koshihikari by multiple crossing. This research outcome will contribute to the production of safe rice around the world in the future.

Following winning this prize, Professor Ma commented that: “I am very honored and delighted to unexpectedly receive the first Frontiers Planet Prize. This research took over 10 years, and I was able to solve the mystery of the mechanism for low cadmium accumulation in rice plants only recently. I appreciate the cooperation of many co-researchers, and I look forward to this discovery being usful in the breeding of safe rice varieties containing low cadmium in the future.” In addition, President Nasu who attended the awards ceremony commented that: “It is very gratifying that Professor Ma was selected as the representative of Japan at a meeting place where human wisdom is gathered and researchers around the world, who strive to solve issues affecting the future of the earth such as global warming and food issues, meet together to hold discussions. Okayama University has newly set out its “Okayama University Long-Term Vision 2050: A Research University that Cocreates the Future for the Region and the Earth and Contributes to Global Innovation” to achieve the “health of the earth and its ecosystems (Planetary Health)”, and is deepening new relations with diverse stakeholders throughout the region and the world. I believe that this effort is appreciated by many individuals.”

Okayama University, a research university with a regional core and distinctive characteristics, will continue to vigorously engage in research and the creation of innovations that will contribute to the health of the earth and its ecosystems (Planetary Health), from the Okayama region to the world.

*1 Frontiers, the basis of the foundation, is a publishing firm for open access journals founded in 2007. The organization ranked sixth in terms of size and third in terms of the number of citations in the current global publishing industry.
*2 Succeeded in breeding a low cadmium-accumulating rice that does not affect the yield and taste, by identifying a gene that limits the accumulation of cadmium in rice! (Okayama University press release on August 19, 2022)