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Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of KIST’s Gangreung Institute (May 9, 2013)
- Date : 2013-10-28
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![Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of KIST’s Gangreung Institute](http://kist.re.kr/Data/editor/XhHKgdfa.jpg)
The Gangreung Institute, KIST’s first branch, celebrated its 10th anniversary on May 9, 2013. At that time, a new vision was announced, “A Better Life for Mankind through Natural Products” and a fresh goal established, “Development of Source Technology in Research Focusing on a Long Healthy Life.”
Since its establishment, the Institute has used natural ingredients that are abundant in the regions of the Taebaek Mountain Range and the East Sea in its research to develop a wide range of products, including soap, cosmetics, beauty products, functional foods and anti-cancer drugs. The Institute has presented over 450 research papers and 162 applications for patents, resulting in 71 patents registered by the end of 2012.
The Institute’s focus on natural resources reflects a worldwide demand for natural products. Products made from natural substances can be consumed for prolonged periods of time, and their efficacy and safety has already been verified through extensive clinical testing of their ingredients. They also have the advantage of producing fewer side effects than synthetically produced foods and medicines and have relatively higher success rates and lower development costs. Natural product development also has a very high investment efficiency, achieving maximum outcomes with minimum investment. It is more lucrative than developing a new synthetic medicine since the size of the investment and the time it takes for development can be reduced substantially.
In 2004, the Gangreung Institute carried out its first research project which involved using medicinal plants to fight cancer. Since then, the Institute has conducted important research projects into cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and dementia in order to find natural substances for the treatment of such diseases.
Among its notable research achievements, the Institute has commercialized a functional health food to improve liver function using the extract from Youngia denticulatum, a plant native to Korea. It has also established a treatment system for acidic coal mine drainage using a neutralizing agent, a soil contamination restoration system, and developed materials for soap using the antibiotic effects of medicinal herbs from Mongolia. Additionally, the Institute succeeded in developing basic materials for high-grade cosmetics using the water obtained from boiling the Japanese sea cucumber that thrives in the East Sea and transferred that technology to a company that farms sea cucumbers.
![Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of KIST’s Gangreung Institute](http://kist.re.kr/Data/editor/EmSKdNiF.jpg)
In order to distinguish its research on natural substances, the Gangreung Institute plans to sharply increase its capacity by 2020 in order to achieve three major strategies: (1) the establishment of a KGI Library with the most detailed database on natural substances in Korea; (2) the establishment and operation of the High Throughput Screening (HTS) system on natural substances; and (3) the pursuit of the “K-Farm Project,” which is a large-scale research project on natural substances that most companies or universities cannot attempt due to its size, cost, and complex management requirements.