Gwangju City to Hold Completion Ceremony for Aging Research Facility on the 14th

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 13th that it will hold a completion ceremony on the 14th for the construction of the nation's top aging research facility in Nam-gu, Docheom Industrial Complex.

The aging research facility being established in Docheom Industrial Complex is a project promoted by the Korea Basic Science Institute to build an aging research platform in preparation for the aging society.

About 300 people, including Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop, Yong Hong-taek, Director of the Research and Development Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, Shin Hyung-sik, Director of the Korea Basic Science Institute, National Assembly members Jang Byeong-wan and Kim Gyeong-jin, and Jeonnam National University President Jeong Byeong-seok, as well as officials from government-funded research institutes and companies, will attend the completion ceremony.

Gwangju City and the Korea Basic Science Institute signed an agreement in 2016 to conduct aging research and have been promoting the construction of the research facility since then.

The aging research facility was built on a site of 16,532㎡ with a total floor area of 3,730㎡ and three floors, with a total investment of 19 billion KRW, including 11 billion KRW in national funds.

Going forward, as an open aging research platform supplying aged animals for aging research, it will play roles such as ▲research and industrial support for realizing healthy aging in preparation for a super-aged society ▲disease animal model research and development of fundamental aging research technologies ▲one-stop research support from nano-imaging to whole-body imaging.

In particular, by expanding and relocating the country's only aged animal breeding and supply institution, which the institute had operated within Jeonnam National University, to Docheom Industrial Complex and establishing an open platform, it will serve as a core domestic infrastructure for supplying aged animals and developing fundamental aging research technologies such as degenerative disease treatment research.

It will also support research by local companies and establish an anti-aging industrial cluster for the development of anti-aging-related pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, medical devices, and biotechnology through mutual cooperation.

Furthermore, as a second-phase project, the institute plans to expand into a Honam region research center by building cutting-edge analytical science infrastructure that can enhance the technological competitiveness of various manufacturing industries, including local materials and components.

Gwangju City expects that the construction of this facility will have an economic ripple effect of 43 billion KRW and create 224 jobs in the region.

Son Gyeong-jong, Director of the AI Industry Bureau of the city, said, “To foster the anti-aging industry in preparation for the aging era, we will support aging research by local companies and actively support the realization of healthy aging through this.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.