Science
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Success in differentiating Functional Vascular Progenitor Cells (VPC)
KAIST’s Professor Han Yong Man successfully differentiated vascular progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cells and reversed differentiated stem cells.
The research went beyond the current method of synthesis of embryonic body or mice cell ball culture and used the careful alteration of signal transmission system of the human embryonic stem cells to differentiate the formation of vascular progenitor cells.
The team controlled the MEK/ERK and BMP signal transmission system that serves an important role in the self replication of human embryonic stem cells and successfully differentiated 20% of the cells experimented on to vascular progenitor cells.
The vascular progenitor cells produced with such a method successfully differentiated into cells forming the endodermis of the blood vessel, vascular smooth muscle cells and hematopoietic cells in an environment outside of the human body and also successfully differentiated into blood vessels in nude mice.
In addition, the vascular progenitor cell derived from human embryonic cells successfully formed blood vessels or secreted vascular growth factors and increased the blood flow and the necrosis of blood vessels when injected into an animal with limb ischemic illness.
The research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 21st Century Frontier Research and Development Institution’s Cell Application Research Department and Professor Ko Kyu Young (KAIST), Professor Choi Chul Hee (KAIST), Professor Jeong Hyung Min (Cha Medical School) and Doctor Jo Lee Sook (Researcher in Korea Bio Engineering Institute) participated in it.
The results of the research was published as the cover paper of the September edition of “Blood (IF:10.55)”, the American Blood Journal and has been patented domestically and has finished registration of foreign PCT.
The results of the experiment opened the possibility of providing a patient specific cure using stem cells in the field of blood vessel illness.
2011.01.18 View 14188 -
A KAIST student earns 500 million won with "Virtual Finger" idea.
A student’s small idea was transformed into a viable technology, yielding 500 million won through the technology transfer.
In a mobile environment, it is difficult to hold the device and use its multi touch function, at the same time. A doctorate candidate of the KAIST Cultural Technology Graduate School, Hwang Sung Jae (28 years old), identified the inconvenience that it is hard to see the full screen of a mobile phone while manipulating it, and he invented a helper called “Virtual Thumb.”
The thumb allows a user to use only one finger to perform tasks that require the movements of several fingers like punching, zooming in/out and rotating the screen. When the user touches a screen, a virtual finger is created on the other side of the screen and mimics the motion of the user’s touching.
The ‘virtual Finger’ technology is based on the idea that came in second in the 2009 Korea Invention Patent Competition hosted by the Korea Intellectual Property Office and can be applied to any device that has a touch-based system which spans from a TV remote controller to a Tablet PC’s.
The Office of University and Industry Cooperation, KAIST, facilitated to turn Hwang’s idea into commercialization, and on October 18, Victronix, a Korean mobile phone manufacturer, bought a patent right for the technology at 500 million won.
2010.12.13 View 9980 -
KAIST Student Earns Five Hundred Million Won on Virtual Thumb Idea.
Hwang Sung Jae, a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Cultural Technology, developed a Virtual Thumb technology that allows multi-touch functions with one hand. Hwang got his idea from limitations of current mobile phones, including the covering of the screen by the use of fingers and the fact that multi-touch functions are hard to perform with one hand holding the mobile phone.
With this technology, one finger gives the same effect of using both fingers to perform a function. Using the Virtual Thumb that appears on a point corresponding to the point of physical touch, movements corresponding to actual touch movements are mimed to allow zooming in/out and various rotation angle based functions.
In addition, in situations where object rotation is unnecessary, many functions are subjectively matched using the change in rotational angle. It allows for various commands are simultaneously executed without activating a separate commanding menu. In the case of the zoom in command at a corner region, the corner can be zoomed in without moving the object to the center of the screen.
The Virtual Thumb technology can be applied as a middleware on touch-based apparatus including TV remote controls, eBook, mobile phones, tablet PCs, navigation systems and educational apparatus.
“I am honored that a small idea that developed during research can be developed into an actual commercialized technology,” said Hwang. “I will become a researcher who will add to the academic and industrial fields through creative research in the future.”
2010.11.05 View 9519 -
KAIST Animation 'Captain Banana' To Be Shown at SIGGRAPH Asia 2010
‘Captain Banana,’ a short animation created by researchers of Associate Professor Junyong Noh’s Visual Media Laboratory and current students of the Graduate School of Culture Technology (CT), will be shown at SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 this December 15th to 18th.
Following last year’s screening of ‘Taming the Cat’ at the SIGGRAPH CG Animation Festival in the United States, Professor Noh’s work has been chosen to be shown at global CG animation festivals for two years in a row.
Since the first exhibition by ACM in 1974, SIGGRAPH has become a global computer graphic festival that has a strong influence on the global CG and interactive technology industry. The Asian version of SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia has been held annually at Singapore in 2008 and Yokohama, Japan in 2009. This year’s SIGGRAPH Asia will be held at COEX in Seoul from December 15th to 18th.
‘Captain Banana’ is a five minute film about Captain Banana, who explains recent issues over sex including unwanted pregnancies, the eradication of abortions and prevention of AIDS through a series of funny situations with his ten little friends.
“Along with being chosen for screening at global CG animation festivals two years in a row, this year’s selection is significant in that the VM Lab has increased the efficiency of the creating process by using technology we have developed on our own,” said Professor Noh.
The production period took approximate five months with approximately 20 current students of CT and five researchers of the Visual Media Lab.
2010.10.20 View 11193 -
OLEV Safety Confirmed by International Standards
On September 19, KAIST announced that the electromagnetic (EM) field levels of its online electric vehicle (OLEV) measured in June and September of this year demonstrated verification of its safety.
Last June, the EM field level of OLEV installed at the Seoul Grand Park was measured by the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) to test its harmfulness to human. The results were 0.5 ~ 61mG which is within the national and international standards of 62.5mG.
KRISS measured EM field levels on 22 spots on the side of and at the center of OLEV at a fixed distance (30cm) but variable heights (5cm~150cm) according to the national standard of measurement methods for electromagnetic fields of household appliances and similar apparatuses with regard to human exposure (IEC 62233).
In addition, another testing took place on September 13 following a request by National Assemblywoman Young-Ah Park, a member of the National Assembly’s Education, Science and Technology Committee, who has raised an issue on the safety of OLEV. This testing session was held by EMF Safety, Inc., an institution designated by Park, and it tested the EM field level of the same OLEV train that was tested in June.
As a result, the September measurements were well within the national and international standards with 0~24.1mG. The test was conducted under the presence of third party to produce a fair and objective result.
As reference, the EM field level results are well within the American IEEE electromagnetic field standards of 1,100 mG.
The September measurements were produced by Park’s recommendation of following the criteria specified in the measurement procedures of IEC 62110, “Electric and magnetic field levels generated by AC power systems to public exposure,” which were 15 measurements at a fixed 20cm distance at the side of and from the center of OLEV with variable heights of 50cm~150cm.
2010.09.27 View 12803 -
KAIST was invited to the World Economic Forum's fourth "Summer Davos."
KAIST attended the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos Forum” held from September 13 to 15 in Tianjin, China. The Summer Davos Forum hosted various sessions and meetings with international dignitaries from governments, business and public organizations, and academia on the main theme of “Driving Growth through Sustainability.”
On September 14, four subjects including “Electric Vehicles,” “Humanoid Robotics,” “Next Generation of Biomaterials,” and “New Developments in Neuroengineering” were presented by KAIST, followed by discussions with forum participants.
Professor Jae-Seung Jeong of the Bio and Brain Engineering Department, Sang-Yup Lee of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, Joon-Ho Oh of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and President Nam-Pyo Suh participated in the forum as presenters of the topic. Of these speakers, Professors Jae-Seung Jeong and Sang-Yup Lee were nominated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as members of the “Young Global Leader” and “Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies,” respectively.
President Suh was also invited to the CEO Insight Group and delivered an opening speech on OLEV (Online Electric Vehicle) and the Mobile Harbor. President Suh plans to sign an MOU for research cooperation with Jong-Hoo Kim of Bell Lab and Shirley Jackson of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the near future, respectively.
Since 2007, the WEF, in charge of the world’s largest international conference called “Davos Forum” has hosted a “Summer Davos Forum,” also called as the “Annual Meeting of New Champions.” The Summer Davos Forum consists of nations, rising global companies, next generation of global leaders, and cities or nations that lead technological innovations. Unlike the annual Davos Forum held in January, the “Annual Meeting of New Champions” is held in September of each year in Tianjin and Dalian, China.
Since 2009, the WEF has added a special session called IdeasLab in the Davos and Summer Davos Forums. Through IdeasLab, prominent universities from all over the world, research organizations, venture businesses, NGOs, and NPOs are invited to exchange and discuss innovative and creative ideas that can contribute to the development of mankind. Until now, universities including INSEAD, EPFL-ETH, MIT, Oxford, Yale, Harvard, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tsinghua University, and Keio University have been invited to the IdeasLab. KAIST is the first Korean university to attend this session.
2010.09.17 View 20225 -
"Supersolidity flows back," Nature, September 2, 2010
Supersolidity, discovered for the first time in 2004 by two physicists—one of them is Professor Eun-Seong Kim from the Department of Physics, KAIST—was discussed once again in the September 2, 2010 issue of Nature, an internationally well-known science journal.
The article mentioned “supersolidity” as one of the rare examples of quantum effects on a macroscopic scale, together with “superconductivity” and “superfluidity.” The phenomenon of supersolidity was evidenced by Professor Kim and his colleague through an experiment of placing helium-4 in a torsional oscillator under a low temperature.
The phenomenon, however, has been in debate among scientists in the physics community since the discovery, and Professor Kim has recently released his research results to further support his claim. For the full article, please click the link below:
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100902/full/news.2010.443.html.
2010.09.08 View 10016 -
Science News Issued on September 11, 2010: A matter of solidity
Science News, a bi-weekly news magazine of the Society for Science & the Public, published an extensive article on the issue of “supersolidity” discovered in helium-4.
Professor Eun-Seong Kim of the Physics Department, KAIST, is one of the scientists who discovered the phenomenon through an experiment of solid helium using a device called a torsional oscillator.
For the entire article, please click the link of
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/62642/title/A_matter_of_solidity.
2010.09.02 View 10940
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Nanowire crystal transformation method was newly developed by a KAIST research team.
Figure 1
Schematic illustration of NW crystal transformation process. FeSi is converted to Fe3Si by high-temperature thermal annealing in diluted O2 condition and subsequent wet etching by 5% HF.
Figure 2
Low-resolution TEM images of FeSi; Fe3Si@SiO2 core—shell; Fe3Si NW after shell-etching; and Scale bars are 20 nm
Professor Bongsoo Kim of the Department of Chemistry, KAIST, and his research team succeeded to fabricate Heusler alloy Fe3Si nanowires by a diffusion-driven crystal structure transformation method from paramagnetic FeSi nanowires. This methodology is also applied to Co2Si nanowires in order to obtain metal-rich nanowires (Co) as another evidence of the structural transformation process. The newly developed nanowire crystal transformation method, Professor Kim said, would be valuable as a general method to fabricate metal-rich silicide nanowires that are otherwise difficult to synthesize.
Metal silicide nanowires are potentially useful in a wide array of fields including nao-optics, information technology, biosensors, and medicine. Chemical synthesis of these nanowires, however, is challenging due to the complex phase behavior of silicides.
The metal silicide nanowires are grown on a silicon substrate covered with a thin layer of silicon oxide via a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process using single or multiple source precursors. Alternatively, the nanowires can be grown on the thin silicon oxide film via a chemical vapor transport (CVT) process using solid metal silicide precursors.
The CVT-based method has been highly effective for the syntheses of metal silicide NWs, but changing the composition of metal silicide NWs in a wider range, especially achieving a composition of a metal to silicon, has been quite difficult.
Thus, developing efficient and reliable synthetic methods to adjust flexibly the elemental compositions in metal silicide NWs can be valuable for the fabrication of practical spintronic and neonelectronic devices.
Professor Kim expliained, “The key concept underlying this work is metal-enrichment of metal silicide NWs by thermal diffusion. This conversion method could prove highly valuable, since novel metal-rich silicide NWs that are difficult to synthesize but possess interesting physical properties can be fabricated from other metal silicide NWs.”
The research result was published in Nanao Letters, a leading peer-reviewed journal, and posted online in early August 2010.
2010.08.25 View 11545 -
An internationally renowned academic journal published the research result produced by a KAST research team on its cover.
Fc DAAP VEGF-Trap
Photograph showing the gross features of tumor growth along the mesentery-intestinal border. T: tumor. Scale bars represent 5 mm.
Professor Gou-Young Koh of the Biological Sciences Department, KAIST, and his research team published their research result in Cancer Cell, a peer-review scientific journal, as a cover article dated August 17, 2010. It is the first time for the journal to pick up a paper written by a Korean research team and publish it as the cover.
It has been known that a vascular growth factor (VEGF) is closely related to the growth of a tumor. The research team recently discovered that in addition to VEGF, another growth factor, angiopoietin-2 (Ang2), is also engaged with the increase of tumors.
Professor Koh said, “VEGF and the angiopoietins play critical roles in tumor progression and metastasis, and a single inhibitor targeting both factors have not been available.”
The team led by Professor Koh has developed a double anti-angiogenic protein (DAAP) that can simultaneously bind VEGF-A and the angiopoietins and block their actions.
Professor Koh said in his paper, “DAAP is a highly effective molecule for regressing tumor angiogenesis and metastasis in implanted and spontaneous solid tumor; it can also effectively reduce ascites formation and vascular leakage in an ovarian carcinoma model. Thus, simultaneous blockade of VEGF-A and angiopoietins with DAAP is an effective therapeutic strategy for blocking tumor angiogenesis, metastasis, and vascular leakage.”
So far, cancer patients have received Avastin, anticancer drug, to inhibit VEGF, but the drug has not successfully restrained the growth of cancer tumors and brought to some of the patients with serious side effects instead.
Professor Koh said, “DAAP will be very effective to control the expansion of tumor growth factors, which will open up a new possibility for the development of more helpful cancer medicine with low side effects.”
2010.08.20 View 12510 -
A graduate-level education for working professionals in science programs and exhibitions will be available from mid-August this year.
The Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST, has created a new course for professionals who purse their career in science programs and exhibitions, which will start on August 19 and continue through the end of November 2010. The course will be held at Digital Media City in Seoul.
The course, also co-sponsored by National Science Museum, will offer students tuition-free opportunities to brush up their knowledge on the administration, policy, culture, technology, planning, contents development, and technology & design development, of science programs and exhibitions. Such subjects as science contents, interaction exhibitions, and utilization of new media will be studied and discussed during the course. Students will also have a class that is interactive, engaging, and visual, as well as provides hands-on learning activities.
A total of 30 candidates will be chosen for the course. Eligible applicants are graduates with a B.S. degree in the relevant filed, science program designers and exhibitors, curators for science and engineering museums, and policy planners for public and private science development programs.
2010.08.12 View 12222
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The 6th president of KAIST passed away on May 7, 2010.
Dr. Sang-Soo Lee was the first president of Korea Advanced Institute of Science (KAIS) and the 6th president of KAIST, who died of a chronic disease at the age of 85. The KAIS was the matrix of KAIST today. Graduated from the physics department of Seoul National University in 1949, he later received a doctoral degree in optics from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London.
Dr. Lee has greatly contributed to the development of science and technology in Korea in the capacity of a policy administrator, educator, scientist, researcher, and engineer. He held numerous prestigious offices including President of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in 1967, of KAIS in 172, and of KAIST in 1989. Dr. Lee also worked as a professor at the physics department of KAIST for 20 years from 1972-1992.
The Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), an international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Dr. Sang-Soo Lee was a member of the SPIE that issued a news release expressing its sincere condolences to his death. The following is the full text of the news release: http://spie.org/x40527.xml
In memoriam: Sang Soo Lee
10 May 2010
Sang Soo Lee, known as the "Father of Optics" in Korea passed away on May 7, 2010, in Korea. He was 84.
Lee received a B.S. in Physics from Seoul National University in Korea and a Ph.D. from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, UK. Receiving the first Ph.D. in Optics in Korea, Dr. Lee devoted his life to lay the foundation for optical science and engineering for more than four decades as an educator, researcher, and administrator in science policy.
"He was one of the architects of the extraordinary and rapid emergence of Korea as a world leader in science and technology, or perhaps with the rich history of contributions centuries ago, re-emergence would be more appropriate." said Eugene G. Arthurs, SPIE Executive Director.
During his teaching career, Dr. Lee mentored 50 doctoral and more than 100 masters" degree candidates. in the areas of laser physics, wave optics, and quantum optics. Many of his former students have become leaders in academia, government-funded research institutes, and industry both in Korea and abroad. He published more than 250 technical papers and authored five textbooks, including "Wave Optics", "Geometrical Optics", "Quantum Optics", and "Laser Speckles and Holography".
Lee was the first president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and the first president to establish a new government funded graduate school. He played a pivotal role in founding the Optical Society of Korea (OSK) in 1989 and served as its first president.
Lee was an active member of the international scientific community. In addition to his pioneering scholastic achievements at KAIST, he served as the Vice President of the International Commission for Optics (ICO), a Council Member of the Third World Academy of Sciences, and a Council Member of UN University, serving as an ambassador for the optics community, which showed a significant example of how a developing country like Korea can serve international optics community.
Dr. Lee was a Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), the Optical Society of America (OSA), and the Korean Physical Society (KPS). He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including the National Order of Civil Merit that is the Presidential Medal of Honor from the Republic of Korea (2000), the Songgok Academic Achievement Prize, the Presidential Award for Science, and the Medal of Honor for Distinguished Scientific Achievement in Korea. In 2006, he was awarded OSA"s Esther Hoffman Beller Medal.
2010.05.19 View 14180