About us

History of establishment of research institute

　Prof. Yanagida was involved in the research fields of oil and fat chemistry in his 20s, synthetic and coordination chemistry in his 30s, photosynthesis chemistry in his 40s, photoenergy conversion chemistry and microwave chemistry in his 50s, and dye sensitized solar cells in his 60s. He has clarified in recent years that his quantum chemistry molecular modeling using high-end supercomputer-like personal computers is a “theoretical experiment” that is effective for verifying and predicting chemical phenomena involving molecular van der Waals force assembly systems.　

　On the other hand, Managing Director Kokago had been involved in the manufacturing and sales of the health supplement “Seiyotan”, which originated from the treatment method using iodine, which contributed to the treatment of the Spanish cold. However, he learned that iodine cannot be used directly in the production of “Seiyotan” as a dietary supplement.

　We established M3 Research Institute Co., Ltd., and confirmed by “quantum chemical molecular modeling” the reason why iodine in “Seiyotan” promotes vitality (will power), intelligence (thirst of knowledge), and health.

　Based on the theoretical verification, M3 Research laboratory inc. succeeded in producing a nutritional food “Iodine Omega 3” that intentionally used the word of elemental iodine.　”Iodine Omega 3″ has been on sale from Nippon Yakusen Co., Ltd. in April 2020.

補助食品「ヨウ素オメガ3」誕生の経緯

　ヨウ素を原料として調整される「正沃丹」の有効な成分は、「たら肝油」と反応して生成する有機系ヨウ素剤であると説明されてきました。一方、ヨウ素は、水に溶けますと、下式に示す水による還元化学反応でヨウ化物イオンに変化します(Wikipedia)。

I₂  +  H₂O  ⇄ I⁺HO^– (IOH) + HI  （反応１）

I⁺HO^–  +  H₂O  ⇄  HI  +  HOOH （反応２）

　また、我が国の伝統的健康食材の海藻類、とりわけ昆布には、ヨウ化物イオンとヨウ素酸イオンが含まれています。しかし、ヨウ素酸イオンも容易にヨウ化物イオンによって還元されて、ヨウ素(I₂)なります。

H⁺IO₃^–  + 3 H⁺I^– + H₂O → 2 I₂ + 2 HOOH

　そこで、ヨウ素の含有量の多い昆布（M3昆布）をヨウ素源として用い、世界保健機構(WHO) のヨウ素摂取量3 mg/day を満たすように食材「ヨウ素含有酵母」をも用いて「ヨウ素オメガ3」を誕生させました。

Profile of Dr. Shozo Yanagida

M3 Laboratory Inc. Representative Director
Emeritus Professor of Osaka University

Shozo Yanagida

(Date of Birth, September 19, 1940)
He became an assistant professor of chemistry, faculty of Engineering, Osaka University in 1966.
He was promoted to an associate professor of newly established Chemical Process Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University in 1980, and became a full professor in 1987.
In 2004, he retired as a professor of graduate school of Material and Life Science, Osaka University.
During time to retirement, he achieved the following research and development (R&D);

1. Assistant Professor (1966-1980): Research on development of organic reactions and synthesis, metal ion complexation of polyethylene glycols and their derivatives
2. Associate Professor (1980-1987): Research on photochemical conversion and storage of solar energy (Water photo-splitting catalysis using ZnS colloids and visible-light-driven photoreduction of CO2 using polyphenylene derivatives as photocatalysts)
3. Full Professor (1987-2004): Research on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), strong emission material chemistry (SEMC) and environment-friendly microwave-assisted chemistry (MWC), .

After retirement, he became a specially-appointed professor of Frontier Research Institute of Osaka University. He continued R&D on above-mentioned DSC, SEMC, and MWC under support of NEDO, Shimane Prefecture, and KANEKA Company. He has been appointed to a research director of “Research Association for Technological Innovation of Organic Photovoltaics” of University of Tokyo (RATO), and to a member of advisory board of Japan Society of Electromagnetic Wave Energy Applications（JEMEA）He has been recently appointed as an adviser to the New Chemical Technology Development Association (JACI).

Past decade, he has learnt that quantum chemistry molecular modeling, i.e. density functional theory-based molecular modeling (DFT/MM) verifies three-dimension structures of van der Waals molecular aggregates as amorphous states of the aggregates, and that their energy structures are visualized as UV/Vis spectra, NIR/IR/FIR, spectra and NMR spectra.

In order to carry out theoretical research on the basis of DFT/MM, he established M3 laboratory Inc. at the Institute of Science and Industrial Research (ISIR) of Osaka University in 2018. One of the goals of the M3 Laboratory is validation for iodine therapy targeting the mitochondria. He is proud of the recent three articles entitled “Quantum chemistry molecular modeling for longevity: Importance of antioxidative effects in mitochondria as battery of cells”, “Quantum chemistry-based verification of antioxidative action of iodide in mitochondria” and “Quantum chemistry molecular modelling for mitochondria targeted chemotherapy: Verification of oxidative stress on mitochondria and anticancer medicines”.

Recently he was given the first prize from JEMEA. Important contribution to JEMEA is DFT/MM based elucidation of microwave energy-driven quick heating of water.

For his past research work on quantum chemistry molecular modeling, please search Google using his name, DFT, and Spartan as keywords.