More than 10,000 gene knockout (KO) mouse lines have already been produced in the world, and approximately 4,000 gene functions were analyzed, but still the functions of more than 20,000 genes remain to be elucidated. Because generation of gene knockout mice is one of the most efficient ways, or sometimes the only way, to analyze the function of a particular gene, USA, Canada and European countries have already started the projects to generate KO mice of all the genes. Probably, almost all the gene functions will be unraveled untill 2018. Therefore, it is urgent to accelerate the research in this field in Japan.

To accelerate this research, we have reorganized the Center for Experimental Medicine and establish a new research center, the Center for Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology (CEMSB) in 2009. In this center, we analyze the gene functions of disease-related genes by generating gene KO mice. The CEMSB mainly analyze the function of tumor- and immune disorder-related genes. Importantly, the roles of individual genes in the development of a particular disease and the relationship among these genes are systematically analyzed in living animals, making it possible to simulate the development of diseases in the computer.

Four laboratories form the core of the CEMSB: the Division of Disease Models, Molecular Pathogenesis, Molecular Genetics, and Systems Biology. The Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Laboratory of Tumor Biology join the center as collaborating laboratories in the IMSUT. The laboratories of two visiting professors also join in collaboration with Kumamoto and Osaka Universities.