Addresses by Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino(2016)

　It is a great pleasure for me to be with so many participants from more than 30 countries and areas at this Opening Ceremony of the 32nd World Congress of Biomedical Laboratory Science, which is being held for the second time here in Kobe, Japan.

　I have learned that the first international gathering of Medical Laboratory Technologists, now also called Biomedical Laboratory Scientists, took place in Switzerland in 1954.　Since the first gathering, this Congress has provided a venue for those engaged in laboratory medicine and public health to contribute to the progress of medical science and medical services through the exchange of information on research and assessment results including new cases and medical laboratory testing methods.

　Today, medical laboratory technologies such as diagnostic imaging, including ultrasonography, and genetic testing, are indispensable to medical science and medical services.　As the theme of this Congress "International Innovation of Laboratory Medicine – Basic and Advanced –" indicates, the mutually inseparable development of basic and advanced medical laboratory technologies will continue to support human healthcare.

　At the same time, laboratory medicine plays a critical role in tackling various public health issues faced around the world, including drug sensitivity testing for patients with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and MRSA, and medical assistance in times of disaster, for instance to detect thrombosis.

　Under these circumstances, it is especially significant that biomedical laboratory scientists engaged daily in medical laboratory testing around the world have assembled here to share information and exchange views to further enhance the reliability and accuracy of medical laboratory testing.　Also I have heard that many students who aim to become biomedical laboratory scientists are attending this Congress.　I strongly believe it is very meaningful that this Congress is providing an occasion to foster future biomedical laboratory scientists.

　In closing my address, I hope that the results of this Congress will be used effectively in your various efforts and activities in each country and area, and lead to improved health for people throughout the world.

　It is a great pleasure for me to be with so many participants from more than 30 countries and area today at the opening ceremony of this Joint meeting of the 22nd International Congress of Zoology and the 87th meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan, which is being held here in Onna Village, Okinawa Prefecture.

　This is the first time that the International Congress of Zoology, which is the longest-standing international congress of zoology and now meets at 4-year intervals, is taking place in Japan.　I have learned that the main theme of this Congress "New Waves of Zoological Science in the 21st century" sets a new paradigm in zoology with the advent of the era of genome science, which will be reflected in various presentations and discussions at this Congress.

　I understand that zoology is a longstanding discipline that originally derived from Natural History.　It covers a broad range of biological disciplines including taxonomy, systematics, comparative anatomy, functional morphology, developmental biology, physiology, molecular genetics, ecology, ethology, and so on.　Also, zoology has now gained renewed recognition for its importance in the conservation of biodiversity, along with environmental science.

　Especially with the advancements in genome science in recent years, we have now gained knowledge of the diverse information that living organisms have acquired over the long history of their evolution.　Notably in molecular phylogenetics, we can now not only construct phylogenetic trees of extant species, but also determine the systematic position of fossils.　This enables us to delve into the phenotypes of the ancestral progenitors that have led to extant species, and, by considering their genetic structures and functions, to research how they have adapted through their evolutionary histories.

　Though I am not a zoologist myself, I am among those who take an interest in animals and its related academic subjects.　I am particularly fascinated by the domestication and breeding of varieties of livestock.　My interests are in the creation of variations through human motivation and selection by humans, from the perspectives of folkbiology and ethnobiology.　I realize how relevant zoology is to my interests when considering that the process of domestication often involves such areas as morphology, molecular genetics, ethology, and physiology.

　I have heard that apart from academic presentations and discussions, the program of this Joint meeting also offers events, including a public lecture and an exhibition of live and preserved specimens at a “Zoology Plaza”, that are open to the public and to students from primary to high school.　I expect these public events to contribute to a broader recognition of the importance of zoology as well as to communicate its interesting aspects to the next generation.

　In closing my address, I hope that this Joint meeting will be fruitful for you all, and contribute to the further development of the International Society of Zoological Sciences and the Zoological Society of Japan.