Osaka University
大阪大学

Japan

Osaka University was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and it remains today one of Japan’s leading comprehensive universities. The University houses more than 23,000 students and more than 6,600 faculty and staff members. Osaka University was named Japan’s most innovative university and is included among the most innovative institutions in the world according to the Nature Index 2017 Innovation publication. The University’s ability to innovate stems from its broad disciplinary spectrum and strong industry-university collaboration, as well as its engagement with, and contributions to, society. This strength is coupled with a drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology. The University continues to explore new research fields, develop greater innovation from the fundamental research stages, and make even greater efforts to pioneer interdisciplinary research projects.

With the motto “Live Locally, Grow Globally,” Osaka University has adopted a vision of openness for 2021. To this end, we strive to make our education, research and community more open and ensure that our three campuses are places where outstanding students and researchers from around the world can gather, learn, discover, and collaborate. Since integrating with Osaka University of Foreign Studies in 2007, Osaka University has enhanced its capacity in the studies of language and culture, and we are enhancing degree programs conducted in English and Japanese language support for international students and faculty. In recent years, the University has also actively expanded its global outreach by setting up overseas centers in San Francisco, Groningen, Bangkok and Shanghai.

Osaka University leverages its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, the sustainable development of society, and social transformation.

1 December 2019 - 30 November 2020

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Osaka University published between 1 December 2019 - 30 November 2020 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

Count	Share
533	192.22

Outputs by subject (Share)

Subject	Count	Share
Life Sciences	174	43.84
Physical Sciences	198	49.02
Chemistry	213	110.14
Earth & Environmental Sciences	7	1.10
Geophysical Research Letters	2	0.09
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth	1	0.25
Nature Communications	4	0.76

Highlight of the month

Sex of mice determined by overlooked gene fragment

© Jamie A. MacDonald/Moment Open/Getty Images

A previously overlooked part of the sex-determining gene Sry is responsible kicking off the series of events that leads to the development of male mice.

For more than 30 years, the gene Sry on the male Y chromosome has been known to determine the sex of mammalian offspring. But it was considered to have only a single exon — a section of DNA within a gene that codes for a protein.

Now, a team of five researchers at Osaka University and a collaborator have found that Sry in mice actually has two exons, and that the newly discovered exon is the key to the development of male offspring. They found that mice having XY chromosomes would develop as females if they lacked the exon and, conversely, mice having two X chromosomes would become males if they possessed the exon.

While humans lack the newly discovered exon, this finding could have implications for how human Sry functions.

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