We’re excited to share a major milestone from our lab.

🎤 Dr. Kazuki Takeda Delivered an Award Lecture at the 530th Veterinary Seminar!

On May 14, 2025, our faculty member Dr. Kazuki Takeda gave an invited lecture at the
530th Veterinary Medicine Seminar: "Best Paper 2024", held in Lecture Room A31, Building A, 3rd floor.

The award-winning paper is:

Takeda K. et al., Environ Toxicol Chem., 2024 Oct;43(10):2176–2188
"Assessment of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Mediated Effects of Aromatic Sensitizers in Paper Recycling Effluent Employing Zebrafish Embryos and in Silico Docking"
🔗 Read the paper here

💡 What’s the research about?

Is recycling always good for the environment?
This study challenges that common belief with new scientific evidence.

Japan is a global leader in paper recycling, but wastewater from recycling plants can contain ink and thermal paper-related chemicals that escape treatment and enter the environment.

Among them, one compound stood out: benzyl 2-naphthyl ether (BNE).
This chemical is widely used as a color developer in thermal paper, and likely entered recycling effluent through discarded receipts and labels.

Using a two-step approach:

1. In silico toxicity screening via molecular docking

2. In vivo validation with zebrafish embryos

We identified BNE as a novel toxic compound with both teratogenic effects and AhR (dioxin receptor) agonist activity.

🎓 Student-Driven Discovery

This project began as the undergraduate thesis of Ms. Sarata (Class of 2022), who won the SETAC Award for her presentation.

It was further extended by Ms. Sun (Class of 2024), who evaluated the effects in adult fish and won a Student Poster Award at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology.

🔬 Toward Safer Recycling and Smarter Screening

This research showcases a streamlined pipeline that integrates AlphaFold-based structural modeling, molecular docking, and zebrafish assays to uncover hidden environmental risks.

It also serves as a reminder that “eco-friendly” processes can still pose hazards if not carefully assessed, and that science plays a key role in making recycling truly sustainable.

👀 Interested in Toxicology Research?

• Curious about what toxicology really involves?

• Want to know how undergraduates publish and present internationally?

• Fascinated by combining bioinformatics and biology?