On September 21-22, the 2024 Synthetic Biology and Biomanufacturing Application Conference was held in Weiguang Life Science Park, Guangming District, Shenzhen. One main forum, six industrial application sub-forums, and two special activities attracted more than 1,000 people from national synthetic biology and biomanufacturing experts and enterprises to sign up.
At the conference, the participants gathered and exchanged the innovative applications of synthetic biology in six fields, including medicine and health, food nutrition, beauty and health care, green materials, new agricultural use, and cell health, and discussed how to speed up the 100 billion market brought by synthetic biology to subvert various industries.
The 2024 Synthetic Biology and Biomanufacturing Application Conference has become a high-standard, high-level, and high-participation event for the synthetic biology industry, as well as a brand event for the industrialization and application of synthetic biology held in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a fertile land for related industries in the field of synthetic biology.
The conference was hosted by Guangdong Biotechnology Industrialization Promotion Association, Synthetic Biology Network, and Times Hi-Tech, co-sponsored by Shenzhen Guangming District Federation of Industry and Commerce (General Chamber of Commerce), Weiguang Holding Group, Weiguang Life Science Park, and Shenzhen Huagu Zhiyuan Biotechnology and Industry Research Institute, and co-organized by Shenzhen Life Science Industry Association, Daofuzi Food International, CSR Global, Cell Chain, Gene Valley, Bay Gravity (Bright Biomedical Innovation Center), Blue Rainbow, Guangdong Community Network, and Southern Medical Network.
Industry leaders gather together to deeply link industry, university and research
Chen Youhai, Academician of the United States Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, Academician of the European Academy of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Dean of the School of Pharmacy of Shenzhen University of Technology, Xu Tian, Chair Professor and Vice President of Westlake University, Guo Jun, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology in South China, Former Party Secretary and Vice President of the Guangzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences/Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Liu Jianzhong, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of the School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Vice Chairman of the Molecular Microbiology and Bioengineering Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Microbiology, Director of the Institute of Biochemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Xing Xinhui, Executive Vice President and Doctoral Supervisor of the Institute of Biomedicine and Health Engineering, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Lin Ying, Professor of the School of Biological Science and Engineering of South China University of Technology and Co-Chief Scientist of Marubeni Recombinant Collagen, Wei Dong, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of the School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Tian Shimin, Chief Engineer of China Inspection and Inspection (Beijing) Testing Technology Co., Ltd., Professor of the Chinese Academy of Inspection Sciences, former Director of the Key Laboratory of Toxicology of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China, and former Deputy Director of the Testing Center of the Academy of Inspection Sciences, Fu Shaoping, senior engineer of Intelligent Biomanufacturing Center of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tang Hongting, associate professor and doctoral supervisor of Sun Yat-sen University, Huang Kexue, president and chief scientist of China Resources Shuanghe Institute of Synthetic Biology, and many other experts in synthetic biology and biomanufacturing attended the application conference.
The conference received the support of Angel Yeast, Huaheng Biotechnology, METTLER TOLEDO, Thermo Fisher, Shenzhen Luculent Environment, Baikuirui Biotechnology, Beijing Qingke Biotechnology, Guangzhou Zhiyi Biotechnology, Guangdong Shaohe Biotechnology, Hangzhou Huante Biotechnology, Hangzhou Peige Filtration Technology, Only Three Biotechnology, Kabais Nanotechnology, Conomy, Nanning Hanhe Biotechnology, Shandong Bona Biotechnology, Shanghai Guxin Biotechnology, Shanghai Rundu Biotechnology, Shenzhen Ruidelin Biotechnology, Shenzhen Dapu Biotechnology, Xi'an Lanxiao Technology New Materials, Sub-wave Photonics, China Inspection and Inspection Department, Zhuhai Maidefa Biotechnology, The joint support of BGI and other enterprises.
At the meeting, Xu Tian, vice president of Westlake University, pointed out that traditional Chinese medicine faces many problems in terms of information standardization, quality control, toxicological safety, and efficacy mechanism. The combination model of "artificial intelligence + genetics + synthetic biology" can continue to deeply empower the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine and continuously promote the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine on a global scale.
Mr. Xu Tian, Chair Professor and Vice President of Westlake University
Chen Youhai, Academician of United States Medical and Biological Engineering, Academician of the European Academy of Sciences, National Distinguished Professor, Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education, and Dean of the School of Pharmacy of Shenzhen University of Technology, expressed his views on the development path of the biomedical industry in the Greater Bay Area. He believes that there is only one way to achieve the high-quality development of the biomedical industry, and that biomedical enterprises in the Greater Bay Area need to accelerate the development of new tracks and breakthroughs in new technologies, and the government should also actively introduce new policies, cultivate new financial ecology, and vigorously introduce new talents, so as to ride the wind and waves, stand at the forefront of the tide, and contribute the wisdom and strength of the Greater Bay Area to the cause of human health.
Mr. Chen Youhai, Academician of the United States Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, Academician of the European Academy of Sciences, Dean of the School of Pharmacy of Shenzhen University of Technology
Guo Jun, director of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology in South China, member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference/former director of the Science, Education, Health and Sports Committee, and former secretary of the Party Committee and vice president of the Guangzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences/Guangdong Academy of Sciences, said that although microorganisms play a core driving role in the green, low-carbon and sustainable development of the ecosystem, they are currently facing bottlenecks such as few functional strain resources, low functional activity of strain, and stress resistance of strains to be improved. The role of ecological protection such as water enhancement and risk prevention.
Mr. Guo Jun, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology in South China
Liu Jianzhong, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat-sen University, vice chairman of the Molecular Microbiology and Bioengineering Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Microbiology, chairman and director of the Expert Committee of the Guangzhou Synthetic Biology Industry-University-Research Technology Innovation Alliance, shared the development direction and application cases of synthetic biomanufacturing such as hydroxytyrosol, caffeic acid, levodopa, resveratrol and pterostilbene and phenyllactic acid. He said that in order to achieve a breakthrough in biomanufacturing 2.0, it is necessary to rely on synthetic biology, strive to make new breakthroughs in key technologies of synthetic biology, and promote new applications of synthetic biology in the fields of food, medicine, cosmetics, feed, and materials.
Mr. Liu Jianzhong, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of the School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University
Innovate policy services and lead the rapid development of the industry
On June 1, 2022, Shenzhen issued the "Opinions of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government on Developing and Expanding Strategic Emerging Industrial Clusters and Cultivating and Developing Future Industries".
At the meeting, the chief of the Science and Technology Development Section of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau of Guangming District, Shenzhen introduced the synthetic biology industry policy of Guangming Science City to Xiaosi. He said that Guangming Science City is located at the core node of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, and is a pilot launch area for a comprehensive national science center in the Greater Bay Area. At present, Guangming Science City is making every effort to build a world-class science city, and strive to become a source of original innovation, a pioneer of scientific research bases, and a gathering place for innovative talents. In the future, we will build a new model of "scientific research-transformation-industry" of synthetic biology, and make every effort to build a pilot demonstration area for the integrated development of the synthetic biology innovation chain and industrial chain in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Mr. Xiang Xiaosi, Chief of the Science and Technology Development Section of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau of Guangming District
In 2021, Guangming District, Shenzhen issued the "Several Measures of Guangming District on Supporting the Integrated Development of the Industrial Chain of Synthetic Biology Innovation Chain" to encourage the development of the synthetic biology industry, which is also the first special support policy in the field of synthetic biology industry in China. The policy arranges 400 million yuan of financial funds to support the synthetic biology industry for three consecutive years from four aspects: the construction of strategic scientific and technological forces, the construction of innovation chain, the construction of industrial chain, and the construction of ecological chain. Subsequently, in 2023 and 2024, Guangming District has successively issued specific application guidelines such as the "Guidelines for the Application of Special Supporting Funding Projects for Synthetic Biology Technology in Guangming District" and the "Operation Guidelines for Entrepreneurship Funding Projects for Synthetic Biology Enterprises in Guangming District" to accurately support the development of synthetic biology enterprises in Guangming District and encourage more synthetic biology start-ups to take root in Guangming.
Guo Caiping, deputy secretary of the Party Committee, director and general manager of Weiguang Biotechnology, said in his speech: With the real encouragement and assistance of the Guangming District Government, Weiguang Biotechnology has been able to develop rapidly. Now, Weiguang Biotech has built an innovation platform such as Weiguang Life Science Park, which integrates R&D, production, incubation and service, and brings together many top scientific research talents, advanced technology equipment and innovative enterprise teams, hoping to work with more synthetic biology companies to promote the emergence of new industries, new formats and new models in the field of synthetic biology in the future.
Ms. Guo Caiping, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Director and General Manager of Weiguang Biotechnology
Various forces have made suggestions and suggestions to empower industrial upgrading with synthetic biology
The market is growing rapidly, and the policy is escorting. In this context, the upstream and downstream of synthetic biology urgently require richer scientific research resources, more innovative industrial development models and more diverse communication platforms. To this end, the synthetic biology network vigorously promotes the upstream and downstream exchanges between synthetic biology and biomanufacturing, and will launch a new tool library, a new raw material library, and a new product library at the conference to help more enterprises.
Cai Wansheng, President of Guangdong Biotechnology Industrialization Promotion Association, said in his speech that the Promotion Association adheres to practical work and practical results, and will work with synthetic biology network to help more enterprises in the field of synthetic biology realize the dream of "a fermenter rings, a golden tael".
Ms. Cai Wansheng, President of Guangdong Biotechnology Industrialization Promotion Association
In the roundtable discussion of the main forum, experts from Huaheng Biotech, Luculent Environment, Shenzhen Capital Group, Redlin and Guangxin Biotech discussed how synthetic biology can empower industrial upgrading. Wang Lei, director of Huagu Zhiyuan Research Institute, said that the continuous innovation of synthetic biology in many fields will bring more surprises and changes to human health, food, beauty, agriculture, materials and other aspects, but enterprises that want to "get a piece of the pie" still need to accelerate the construction of a demand-oriented, problem-oriented and market-oriented technological innovation system, seize the opportunity, increase investment, and improve quality, so as to gain a firm foothold in the torrent market and continue to open up a new situation in the application of synthetic biology.
Biomanufacturing is leading a new era of green and low-carbon
In the context of global advocacy of ESG investment and domestic "dual carbon" strategy, the use of renewable raw materials is the general trend, and synthetic biology is one of the ideal means to achieve efficient use of biomass energy. In order to respond to development requirements and accelerate green transformation, in 2024, Synthetic Biology Network and CSR Global jointly launched the "Green Biology Innovation Award", aiming to identify and commend enterprises and institutions with outstanding performance in the field of green biomanufacturing and low-carbon sustainable development. After more than two months of selection, the "Green Biology Innovation Award" was also awarded at this conference, and 28 units including Huaheng Biotech, Jiabiyou, and MGI were on the list.
List of winners of the "Green Bio Innovation Award".
It is worth mentioning that in order to implement the purpose of this event to encourage green biomanufacturing, the synthetic biology network specially selected the synthetic biomaterial polyhydroxyalkanoate ester (PHA) produced by Zhuhai Maidefa Company, and made a trophy with innovative application significance of synthetic biological materials through 3D printing, reflecting the protection of the environment and the respect for life.
Multi-domain innovation is brilliant, opening up a new situation of application
The conference set up a total of 7 sub-forums, including the New Health and Pharmaceutical Application Forum, the Future Food and New Quality Nutrition Reform Forum and the China New Generation Good Food Entrepreneurship Gathering - Shenzhen Station, the High-throughput Screening + AI-Synthetic Biology New Frontier Forum, the New Beauty and Health Products Reform Forum, the New Platform, New Technology, New Tools Application Forum, the New Materials and Green Biochemical Development Forum, and the New Agricultural Technology Innovation and Development Forum.
In the various sub-forums, many innovations were remarkable. At the New Frontier Forum on High-throughput Screening + AI-Synthetic Biology, the guests demonstrated the charm of cutting-edge technologies such as generative AI model-driven protein design, HMOs technology development and industrialization, and the application of CytoSparkīm microfluidic high-throughput screening system to enzyme evolution/microbial screening. At the New Health and Pharmaceutical Application Forum, the innovative strategies and latest progress of synthetic biology in the research and development of live bacteria drugs, plant synthesis, platform development based on the diagnosis and treatment of genetic metabolic diseases, and the development and application of new biomedical materials were shown, bringing new hope to the field of medicine. The New Beauty and Health Products Revolution Forum focused on the innovative application of yeast cell factories, recombinant collagen and AI models in the field of cosmetics. The New Platform, New Technology and New Tools Application Forum demonstrated the significant role of innovative platforms such as separation equipment, intelligent synthesis platform, and gene factory in improving the efficiency of the synthetic biology industry. The New Agricultural Technology Innovation and Development Forum showcased the new achievements of synthetic biology in biopesticides, industrialization of high-value compounds, and plant nutrition to empower the upgrading of agricultural industry. The forum on the development of new materials and green biochemistry focused on the role and breakthroughs of synthetic biology in material innovation, process optimization, and green biochemistry.
The project roadshow shows its style, and the investment and financing docking is oriented to the future
The conference also held a special event of innovative project roadshow - investment and financing matchmaking meeting on the 22nd, aiming to build a display platform for innovative projects in the field of synthetic biology and biomanufacturing, and strive to promote the vigorous development of the industry. More than 80 business representatives and investors attended the seminar.
In the roadshow, the 10 outstanding projects that stood out covered beauty and health care, biopharmaceutical, medical testing, agriculture, ecological environmental protection and intelligent equipment, which not only fully demonstrated the current innovation level in the field of synthetic biology, but also represented the hot direction of the current synthetic biology industry.
The slender forest is thin, and the trickle is more than the river. In the future, with the continuous efforts of all parties, the mainland synthetic biology industry will continue to achieve R&D breakthroughs from "0 to 1" and innovative applications from "1 to N", consolidate new quality productivity with high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, move towards a new level of higher quality development, and contribute to the sustainable development of the mainland and even the world.
(The second conference welcomes everyone to continue to participate, cooperation contact: Mr. He 13560173890)
Some glimpses of the grand occasion of the conference:
Editor: Guangdong Community Network · Build a better life in the Bay Area