Mikami, Koichi

写真a

Affiliation

Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Foreign Languages and Liberal Arts ( Hiyoshi )

Position

Associate Professor

E-mail Address

E-mail address

External Links
Scopus Paper Info  
Paper Count: 17 Citation Count: 140 h-index: 6

Click to view the Scopus page. The data was downloaded from Scopus API in April 26, 2026, via http://api.elsevier.com and http://www.scopus.com .

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Career 【 Display / hide 】

  • 2010.04
    -
    2013.12

    Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Center for the Promotion of Integrated Sciences, Assistant Professor

  • 2014.01
    -
    2017.03

    University of Edinburgh, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies (STIS), Research Fellow

  • 2017.04
    -
    2019.03

    University of Tokyo, Komaba Oraganization for Educational Excellence, Science Interpreter Training Program, Project Assistant Professor

  • 2019.04
    -
    2022.03

    Keio University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Foreign Languages and Liberal Arts, Assistant Professor

  • 2022.04
    -
    Present

    Keio University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Foreign Languages and Liberal Arts, Associate Professor

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Academic Background 【 Display / hide 】

  • 2000.04
    -
    2004.03

    Waseda University, School of Political Sciences and Economics, Department of Economics

    University, Graduated

  • 2004.10
    -
    2005.09

    University of Oxford, Said Business School

    United Kingdom, Graduate School, Completed, Master's course

  • 2005.10
    -
    2006.09

    London School of Economics and Political Sciences, Department of Sociology

    United Kingdom, Graduate School, Completed, Master's course

  • 2006.10
    -
    2010.03

    University of Oxford, Said Business School

    United Kingdom, Graduate School, Completed, Doctoral course

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Academic Degrees 【 Display / hide 】

  • MSc in Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, Coursework, 2006.11

  • MSc in Management Research, University of Oxford, Coursework, 2007.05

  • D.Phil. (Oxon) in Management Studies, University of Oxford, Coursework, 2011.07

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Research Areas 【 Display / hide 】

  • Humanities & Social Sciences / Sociology of science, history of science and technology (Science and Technology Studies)

  • Humanities & Social Sciences / Sociology (Medical Sociology)

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Research Keywords 【 Display / hide 】

  • ELSI/RRI

  • Regenerative Medicine

  • Synthetic Biology

  • Cross-national Comparison

  • Rare Diseases

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Books 【 Display / hide 】

  • ゲノムと社会

    JST RISTEX「ゲノム倫理」研究会, 共同文化社, 2026.01

  • 「研究者の自治」のためのレファレンスブック

    西　千尋, 桜木　真理子, 見上　公一, CBI学会, 2024.09

  • 入門 科学技術と社会

    Ryuma Shineha, Koichi Mikami, Nakanishiya Shuppan, 2024.04

  • よくわかる現代科学技術史・STS

    見上　公一, ミネルヴァ書房, 2022.02

    Scope: ゲノム編集,  Contact page： 124-125

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Papers 【 Display / hide 】

  • From reading to writing genomes: a new direction in ELSI

    Koichi Mikami

    Frontiers in Genetics 16 2025

    Research paper (scientific journal), Single Work, Accepted

    　View Summary

    In this commentary piece, I discuss what the growing interest in synthesizing DNA at large scale means to the effort to address the Ethical, Legal and Social implications (ELSI) of genetic/genomic research. The idea that the latest scientific research should be accompanied by efforts to explore and then address its ELSI first materialized in the context of the Human Genome Project (HGP). This project to read a human genome was completed in 2003, but the science of genomics has advanced since. Particularly important was successful synthesis of phiX174 bacteriophage genome in the very year that the HGP was concluded. This work opened up a new direction in genomics research centering on genome-scale synthesis and re-designing of genomes, characterized as a ‘writing’ approach. While early targets in this line of research were microorganisms like Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, technological advancements in the synthesis of large-scale DNA sequences as well as methods to assemble them into a single genome or a chromosome are being made, and in 2016 a team of scientists proposed to ‘write’ an entire human genome. This line of scientific research, I argue, has two major characteristics, its scale and emphasis on design, and demands discussions around ‘ELSI of re-designing,’ in contrast to ELSI discussions that predominated in the earlier ‘reading’ paradigm of genomics. Because of these differences, efforts to address this ELSI of re-design should entail re-thinking what we do as ELSI as well as how we do it.

  • Trends in clinical genetics and its relationship with rare diseases

    Mikami K

    BIO Clinica 38 ( 13 ) 82 - 86 2023

    Research paper (scientific journal), Single Work

  • A historical analysis of the policy on intractable diseases in Japan and its peculiarity

    Koichi Mikami

    Dynamis 42 ( 2 ) 397 - 421 2022

    Research paper (scientific journal), Single Work, Accepted

    　View Summary

    This article examines the history of the policy concerning a class of diseases called intractable diseases in Japan with a particular focus on the roles of patient support groups in firstly legitimizing the grouping of such diseases and then shaping the nature of the support that the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare provided to the patients and their families affected by them. The Ministry started its policy on intractable diseases in 1972, predating the enactment of the 1983 Orphan Drug Act in the United States, which is known to be one of the most important events for the international rare diseases community. This policy decision was triggered by the emergence of subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) as a social problem in the country in the late 1960s. The Ministry first made its support available to patients with this particular disease and, as a result of a series of actions from patient support groups and their medical and political supporters, the same support was made available to those considered to be in similarly difficult circumstances. The way in which the support was arranged, however, turned out to be structurally divisive, inviting the patient groups to negotiate with the national and local governments separately depending on subject matters, and for about three decades since the start of the policy, they struggled to present their unified voice in the country. The governmental support for intractable diseases was finally revised in the mid-2000s, but as this article demonstrates, that became possible only after the patient groups came to realize the need of presenting a unified voice in their effort to improve the lives of those affected.

  • On the Engagement of Humanities and Social Sciences with Science and Technology: A Perspective from the Sociology of Expectations

    Koichi Mikami

    The Keio University Hiyoshi Review of Social Sciences 32   51 - 65 2022

    Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution), Single Work

  • How Extraordinary Was It?: What Development of an Orphan Drug Meant for Patients, Their Families, and Their Community

    Koichi Mikami

    Historia Scientiarum 31 ( 2 ) 94 - 107 2022

    Research paper (scientific journal), Single Work, Accepted

    　View Summary

    In various areas of science and technology, active involvement of non-scientists in their practices is increasingly considered valuable, and medicine is a notable example of such areas. Patients and their families used to be perceived as passive beneficiaries of medical advancement, but today they are encouraged to become active collaborators of medical professionals. Attempts have been made to characterize this trend, and sociological concepts like biological citizenship have been introduced. While increased attention to the new role of patients and their families in medical research may promote die trend, it can also trivialize the struggles that they - not only as individuals but also as members of their disease-based community - might have to face in trying to assume the role. This problem is particularly noticeable where a history of non-scientists' successful involvement in medicine is reduced to a heroic story focusing on a single individual. By examining the case of orphan drug development for a rare genetic disease called Pompe disease and presenting its complexity that is left out in its simplified accounts, I demonstrate that studies on contemporary history of science and technology can play an important role in documenting such complexity and counterbalancing the power of simplified accounts.

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Papers, etc., Registered in KOARA 【 Display / hide 】

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Reviews, Commentaries, etc. 【 Display / hide 】

  • Promoting Collaboration in Molecular robotics

    Nishi, C., M. Sakuragi & K. Mikami

    Journal of Science and Technology Studies  ( 24 ) 67 - 75 2026.01

    Rapid communication, short report, research note, etc. (scientific journal), Joint Work

  • Mirror life at the crossroads: Report on the symposia in Japan for discussion toward mirror life synthesis

    Fujiwara K., Aoki W., Furusawa C., Hasegawa A., Hayashi G., Kiga D., Mikami K., Takada S., Shimizu Y.

    Biophysics and Physicobiology 23 ( 1 )  2026

    Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal), Joint Work

    　View Summary

    The synthesis of mirror life, an organism composed entirely of the mirror-image counterparts of naturally occurring biomolecules, may be a topic for science fiction today but is suggested to be a reality in the future. Scientists called for strict preemptive regulation for the synthesis of mirror life due to concerns regarding biosecurity risks, such as the potential threat of mirror life to humans and non-human ecosystems. This perspective reports on the discussions held at two recent symposia in Japan, at the Japanese Society for Cell Synthesis Research (JSCSR) meeting and at the Biophysical Society of Japan (BSJ) annual meeting. Participants, including synthetic biologists, social scientists and artists, discussed the feasibility of the synthesis of mirror-image artificial self-replicating cells and the balance between the risks and benefits of this emerging technology. The discussions indicate that, while safety management is essential, a rational, evidence-based framework developed through open dialogue with society is crucial for the responsible advancement of mirror life research.

  • The potential of Anthropocene: Taming 'dirty' chimera and its power

    Mikami, K.

    Articulation 3   35 - 47 2025.04

    Rapid communication, short report, research note, etc. (bulletin of university, research institution), Single Work

  • Event Report: the Roundtable Discussion "Future of the Molecular Robotics 2"

    Mikami K, Kawamura, K, Izumi K, Iwabuchi S, Kojima T, Kotsuka T, Sato G, Maruyama T

    Osaka University Research Center on Ethical, Legal and Social Issues ELSI NOTE  ( 42 ) 1 - 36 2024.06

    Meeting report, Joint Work

  • Traces of Human Activities in Anthropocene

    Mikami K

    Articulations 2   7 - 19 2024.04

    Rapid communication, short report, research note, etc. (bulletin of university, research institution), Single Work

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Research Projects of Competitive Funds, etc. 【 Display / hide 】

  • Social Responsibility of SSH Scholars in/for Co-creation of Science & Technology

    2025.04
    -
    2029.03

    MEXT, JSPS, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Principal investigator

  • Collaboration and (in)flexible environment: the history of Guthrie Test in Japan

    2018.04
    -
    2022.03

    MEXT, JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Principal investigator

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Courses Taught 【 Display / hide 】

  • LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES SEMINAR(GIC)2

    2026

  • SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY 2

    2026

  • HISTORY OF IDEAS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

    2026

  • INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE OVERSEAS 1

    2026

  • INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE OVERSEAS 4

    2026

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Memberships in Academic Societies 【 Display / hide 】

  • European Association for Studies of Science and Technology, 

    2014
    -
    Present

  • The Sociology of Science Society of Japan, 

    2012
    -
    Present

  • The Japan Sociological Society, 

    2010
    -
    Present

  • Japanese Society for Science and Technology Studies, 

    2009
    -
    Present

  • Society for Social Studies of Science, 

    2008
    -
    Present
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Committee Experiences 【 Display / hide 】

  • 2019.04
    -
    Present

    理事, 科学技術社会論学会

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