Hospital facility dogs are a special type of companion animal that are hand-picked while they are puppies and undergo two years of advanced training at a dedicated facility. Only then can they carry out their role. Working at hospitals and the like, hospital facility dogs provide comfort to everyone at the facility, especially to the patients. Providing support in situations involving a particularly substantial psychological burden is an important job that only hospital facility dogs can do, and the positive effects they have are steadily increasing. However, as only a very limited number of Japanese hospitals have introduced hospital facility dogs to date, more widespread support is needed.

While chronic kidney disease is highly prevalent in cats, its precise cause is not known and scientists had believed it to be incurable. However, it has now been discovered that a protein called apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage (AIM) holds the key to a remedy for this disease. Functioning in many animals, AIM's role is to make phagocytic cells called macrophages consume dead cells and other waste in the body. However, for some reason, the cat family is the only one in which AIM is consistently inactive, with the result that waste builds up in the kidneys, causing kidney disease. Administering AIM causes macrophages to consume this waste and improves kidney function.

Food is a very important part of ensuring that pets lead healthy lives. However, their feeding behaviors vary, with dogs being omnivores or carnivorous omnivores, whereas cats are obligate carnivores, so meticulous attention must be paid to what they are fed. Today, one can get by without worrying about it too much, because optimized pet foods are readily available at supermarkets and convenience stores. However, fresh concerns have surfaced, as cases of metabolic syndrome are even being seen among cats and dogs. Just as with humans, we need the correct dietary knowledge to ensure that our precious pets can live long, healthy lives.

Many people have experienced how interacting with animals makes them feel calmer and more positive. For animal lovers, keeping a pet has a special significance beyond simply rearing an animal. Research is progressing in other countries, investigating the commonly accepted view that pets affect people's emotions and positively affect their health. This was previously understood from experience, and solid evidence is beginning to emerge. The benefits of pets demonstrated scientifically in this way are now contributing to people's health.

Newts are renowned for their outstanding regenerative capability, which allows them to repair damaged tissue, but the mechanism behind this ability had long remained unexplained. However, studies using the latest genome analysis techniques have revealed a regeneration gene that is specifically expressed in certain red blood cells. Accounting for around 25% of all red blood cells, these cells circulate throughout the body alongside the other red blood cells. Red blood cells —— also known as erythrocytes —— play a part in gas exchange by transporting oxygen to body tissues and receiving carbon dioxide in return. Scientists are achieving progress in research into newt-type regenerative medicine, which will facilitate human regenerative medicine through the application of this mechanism.

2023 saw the first use in clinical practice of anti-amyloid drugs, which inhibit the worsening of Alzheimer's disease symptoms by acting on the substance that causes the disease. While the move was reported as offering a long-awaited ray of hope in regard to dementia, for which there is no effective cure, one has to consider the fact that these drugs are indicated solely for mild, early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Accordingly, scientists are making haste to develop biomarkers that will enable the disease to be diagnosed accurately at an early stage. In particular, hopes are high that an efficient, noninvasive, and cheap blood biomarker could be put to widespread use in routine medical checkups and the like.

Platelets are a type of blood cell that stops bleeding. However, they are also involved in the pathologies of arterial thrombus formation. Although there are various causes of thrombocytopenia, inflammatory stress, such as viral or bacterial infection, rapidly decreases platelet production. Studies using mice have shown that inflammatory platelets are produced by a pathway different from normal under inflammatory stress. Furthermore, scientists have raised the possibility that a decline in platelet count and the production of inflammatory platelets may contribute to the sequelae of COVID-19 infection (long COVID).

Almost all creatures have blood, but not all creatures' blood is red. The red color of our blood results from the iron in the hemoglobin of red blood cells binding with oxygen. Oxygen is carried through our bodies via this process. Blood also fulfills numerous other roles essential to life, such as transporting nutrients and hormones, and recovering carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and other waste products. In addition, blood is equipped with outstanding defensive mechanisms that maintain its stable circulation; a particularly important example of this is hemostasis, which is directly involved in life-threatening situations. Blood is one of the organs fundamental to sustaining life.

The term "human augmentation" tends to call to mind images of the kind of devices you find in science fiction that allow people to exhibit superhuman abilities, like a robot suit that enables you to fly through the sky or gives you the strength to lift objects that would normally be too heavy for a person to carry. However, human augmentation is already supporting our work and our daily lives; for example, at building sites, remotely controlled construction machinery is lessening the burden on workers. In rehabilitation settings, too, assistive exercise equipment based on artificial muscles are reportedly now enabling people to bring out their innate abilities.

Scientists have discovered that, rather than operating independently, our five senses —— sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell —— affect each other while creating a single sensation. Research now underway aims to use virtual reality (VR) technology to shed light on and apply the "cross-modal perception" gained in this way. Scientists say that making various senses intersect makes it possible to create an environment in which people can demonstrate their abilities more readily. They have also found that this gives rise to positive psychological effects.