The Central Economic Work Conference emphasized:
It is necessary to lead the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation, promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, especially use disruptive technologies and cutting-edge technologies to spawn new industries, new models, and new drivers, and develop new quality productivity;
It is necessary to create a number of strategic emerging industries such as biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low-altitude economy, and open up new tracks for future industries such as quantum and life sciences.
Key terms such as “new productivity”, “biomanufacturing” and “life sciences” point out the direction for technological innovation to lead industrial innovation. Synthetic biology, as a disruptive cutting-edge technology, has become an emerging “golden track”, and China’s synthetic biology industry is developing rapidly with an aggressive attitude.
1. China has natural advantages in synthetic biology
In the recent “Shanghai Hui·Hard Science Hard Guest” program, experts participating in the discussion generally believed that synthetic biology technology is revolutionary, and the synthetic biology industry is not only an important strategic emerging industry, but also an important component of future industries. part. They believe that China has clear advantages in the field of synthetic biotechnology and is expected to become a global leader in the future.
Experts believe that the synthetic biology industry has huge potential for future development and is currently only in its infancy. China’s main advantages in the field of synthetic biology include: extensive market demand brought by its huge population base, the government’s great emphasis on the development of synthetic biology and corresponding financial and policy support, a rich reserve of scientific research talents, and a complete supply chain system. , coupled with long-term development in the field of fermentation technology, has made China a global leader in the production of biological materials such as amino acids, vitamins, and medical raw materials.
2. Synthetic biology is an important engine for new productivity
The development of synthetic biotechnology is changing the traditional way humans obtain material resources and promoting the rapid development of high-quality productivity.
Lin Jun, deputy director of the Changzhou Institute of Synthetic Biology Industry at Nanjing Normal University, explained: “Products manufactured by synthetic biology have the potential to replace approximately 70% of chemical manufacturing products, and are expected to significantly reduce energy consumption and raw materials in the industrial production process. Consumption and air pollution herald a new revolution in the life sciences.”
At the recent Fuyuan Investment Summit and 2023 Annual Investor Conference, Zhao Yan, chairman and president of Bloomage Biotechnology, delivered a speech titled “Synthetic Biotechnology Supports Biomanufacturing and Accelerates the Development of New Productivity Productivity.” She shared her insights on how to promote the development of new productivity through the biomanufacturing industry.
Zhao Yan proposed that the development of new productive forces requires abandoning the traditional economic growth model and instead promoting and supporting high-quality development through a development path that improves productivity. She pointed out that among the main industries for new productivity determined by the country, biomanufacturing is a key engine to promote the development of new productivity.
At the same time, the development of biomanufacturing cannot be separated from the support of biotechnology. Biomanufacturing supported by synthetic biology technology represents the future direction of development, and it has the ability to reshape the way the earth’s resources are used. Theoretically, more than 60% of the materials on the earth can be obtained through biological manufacturing supported by synthetic biology technology. Synthetic biotechnology can subvert traditional methods of material acquisition and is a key technical support for achieving green manufacturing and dual-carbon goals.
3. The field of synthetic biology is changing rapidly and has huge potential.
In the past five years, the global synthetic biology industry has experienced rapid growth, with the market size growing from US$5.3 billion in 2018 to more than US$17 billion in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 27%. The global synthetic biology market is expected to grow to nearly US$50 billion by 2028.
On April 14, the above data was announced at the “2024 Shanghai Synthetic Biology Innovation Summit and Shanghai Synthetic Biology Innovation Center Unveiling Ceremony” held at the Zhangjiang Science Hall in Shanghai.
The characteristic of the synthetic biology industry is that it is a typical interdisciplinary subject, covering a series of technical processes from upstream chassis design and bacterial strain construction to midstream fermentation condition optimization to downstream separation and extraction. This field not only applies methods such as molecular biology technology and AI deep learning, but also involves technologies such as fermentation process amplification, fluid mechanics, separation, extraction and preparation.
The development of micro-nano technology provides the possibility to create efficient “desktop factories”.
As a cutting-edge science that integrates biology, engineering, information technology and other disciplines, synthetic biology is expected to lead mankind into a new stage of “material freedom”, change traditional production methods, and promote industrial transformation.
Qian Xuhong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of East China Normal University, emphasized in the report that the development of synthetic biology is of great significance for exploring new underlying technologies for macro industries. He likened it to the tiny tubes drilled by leafminers inside leaves. These micro-nanofluidic tubes are the original template for the factory of the future.
In June 2020, Shanghai launched a major municipal science and technology project for “over-limit manufacturing”. Compared with traditional factories, manufacturing factories based on micro-nano technology may only need the space of a desktop in the future. Academician Qian Xuhong predicts that in the future, such factories will be smaller and more microscopic, but more efficient.
He gave an example that using existing technology, an azide workshop with an annual output of 500 tons of drugs needs to occupy an area of 2,300 square meters, has a reaction time of up to 60 hours, and requires a large amount of reagents that are prone to explosion. However, after using micro-nano chemical technology, Equipment with the same production capacity only needs 180 square meters, the reaction residence time is shortened to 10 minutes, and the reagent consumption is reduced to 1/3 of the original.
Nucleic acid framework design is used in the development of intelligent molecular machines.
Professor Liu Mingyao, Director of the Institute of Life Medicine of East China Normal University, introduced the latest progress of synthetic biology in improving CAR-T cell therapy. They used non-viral PD1 site-specific integration of CAR-T cells to avoid the shortcomings of using viral vectors, thus achieving significant clinical efficacy.
Fan Chunhai, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wang Kuancheng Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, demonstrated a rigid framework structure constructed from new nucleic acids. Unlike traditional single- or double-stranded nucleic acids, this new type of synthetic nucleic acid can be precisely arranged in nanometer space and have molecules such as antibodies fixed on it.
Academician Fan Chunhai explained that the common cold virus has a large number of antigens on its surface and is easily recognized and captured by antibodies, while the HIV virus has a small number of antigens on its surface, making it difficult for antibodies to capture it. Nucleic acid frameworks provide an effective tool to help design more active antibodies against more cryptic viruses.
4. Data is the core element in building a new research paradigm in synthetic biology.
Synthetic biology, as a product of the high integration of life technology and information technology, is at a critical stage of development driven by artificial intelligence. Zhao Guoping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out in the report that data has become a core element in building a new research paradigm in the field of synthetic biology.
Academician Zhao Guoping emphasized that in the face of the explosive growth of biomedical research and application data, how to systematize and standardize these data is an important challenge. He proposed that establishing a biomedical data governance system is a basic scientific and technological project, which will provide stable support for the development of other research fields.