Supported by world-class scientific facilities, Shenzhen competes for a trillion yuan blue ocean of synthetic biology | Guangdong Research Tour on the 45th Anniversary of Reform and Opening up

Tech 2023-10-21 16:24:50 Source: Network

Southern Finance and Economics All Media Reporter Chen Siqi reports from ShenzhenA team of international talents with an average age of 33 years old, 77 scholars selected for the "Top 2% of Scientists in the World" list, incubating a total of 1853 enterprises and holding 365 shares - exploring the dual development of academia and industry. The Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "Xianjin Institute") has achieved remarkable results

Southern Finance and Economics All Media Reporter Chen Siqi reports from Shenzhen

A team of international talents with an average age of 33 years old, 77 scholars selected for the "Top 2% of Scientists in the World" list, incubating a total of 1853 enterprises and holding 365 shares - exploring the dual development of academia and industry. The Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "Xianjin Institute") has achieved remarkable results.

The Advanced Academy is particularly betting on an industry track that requires "racing against time" - synthetic biology.

Data shows that in the past three years, 40% of the newly added synthetic biology enterprises in China have gathered in Shenzhen. A 2020 McKinsey research report pointed out that the synthetic biology industry will generate direct economic output of $2-4 trillion annually over the next 10-20 years.

What are the advantages of Shenzhen compared to traditional biopharmaceutical hubs such as Beijing and Shanghai? The major scientific and technological infrastructure for synthetic biology research, invested by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and led by the Advanced Institute, hereinafter referred to as the "Big Facility", is where the password is located.

For researchers, frequent trial and error, time-consuming, and labor-intensive biological experiments can be "accelerated with one click"; For startups, the high cost of building their own experimental platforms can be reduced with just one click.

In addition, the unique mechanism of "upstairs" innovation and "downstairs" entrepreneurship has greatly saved communication and running in costs, and the research and industrialization of synthetic biology at the Advanced Institute are driving on a fast track.

On October 19th, Southern Finance and Economics all media reporters followed the "Guangdong Research Tour on the 45th Anniversary of Reform and Opening up" activity to visit advanced institutes and decode Shenzhen's experience and practices in competing for a trillion yuan blue ocean of synthetic biology.

The "artifact" behind the 3-year top publication

After only 3 years of returning to China to form a team, the research results were successfully published in the international top journal CELL, leading top institutions such as MIT in the United States and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. 36 year old Li Hanjie experienced the "Shenzhen speed" at the Advanced Institute.

Li Hanjie once worked in immunology and single-cell omics research at the Weizmann Scientific Research Institute in Israel, and now serves as a researcher at the Institute of Synthetic Biology of the Advanced Academy (hereinafter referred to as the "Institute of Synthesis").

In September of this year, Li Hanjie's team successfully constructed the human immune cell development map with the widest tissue coverage, longest time span, and highest sampling density for the first time. They also identified a group of angiogenic macrophages widely present in multiple tissues and organs, as well as a group of microglia like cells outside the central nervous system. The article was successfully included by CELL.

In just three years, the successful research has largely benefited from the synthetic biology facilities in Shenzhen, which have enabled us to build a high-throughput single-cell transcriptome sequencing platform and quickly study the diversity, differentiation, and function of immune cells.If there were no major facilities, it could take 5 to 6 years or even longer, and it would have been snatched by foreign countries for a long time.

As Li Hanjie said, laboratory work in the field of life sciences is to some extent a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. Due to the complexity of biological systems, the rational design of biological systems currently relies on high-throughput "trial and error" experiments.

If there were a "Biofoundation" that could transform tedious experiments from manual to automated, low throughput to high throughput, and randomization to standardization, it would greatly shorten the experimental cycle, improve experimental efficiency, and promote the transformation of biotechnology.

The major technological infrastructure for synthetic biology research in Shenzhen is such a "biological casting factory". Its highlight lies in introducing the concept of intelligent manufacturing in the industrial field into synthetic biology research, forming an automated, high-throughput equipment platform and a standardized set of experimental methods, algorithms, and processes.

As one of the priority projects for the construction and layout of Guangming Science City, the large facilities will be invested and constructed by the Shenzhen Municipal Government, with the Advanced Institute as the leading unit. The total investment estimate approved by the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission is 722.2 million yuan, and it is planned to be put into trial operation by the end of 2023.

(Guangming Science City Synthetic Biology Facility)

Li Hanjie told reporters that immunology is highly related to medicine, and its research requires many clinical samples. Compared to cities with abundant medical resources such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, Shenzhen has a relatively weak foundation.

In 2022, the cell and gene, synthetic biology industries will be included in the "20+8" industrial cluster of Shenzhen's key development. At the same time, Shenzhen has increased its efforts to attract immune talents and has also established the Shenzhen Immunization Society. Policy bias, coupled with the "divine tool" of synthetic biology facilities, is driving more and more young researchers to choose Shenzhen.

The reporter learned that the Advanced Institute's synthetic biology team has more than 1000 people, with nearly 50 national level talents. The team's backbone comes from Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and other disciplines. The background spans biology, physics, chemistry, information technology, and other disciplines. Articles have been published in journals such as Nature, Nature Microbiology, PNAS, and their international influence is increasing day by day.

White coat and suit "borderless"

Shenzhen is an open and innovative city, where there is no clear boundary between scientific research and entrepreneurship. The advantage of researchers is their scientific discoveries from 0 to 1, but to be more grounded and responsive to real people's needs, researchers need to have access to the market and obtain first-hand information. Shenzhen provides such an opportunity

During the research period, the reporter interviewed Zhong Chao, a researcher at the Institute of Synthesis of the Advanced Institute, assistant director, and director of the Materials Synthesis Biology Research Center. He also has a special identity - the founder of Shenzhen Baiyin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The seamless switching between white coats and suits is not uncommon in advanced institutions, as both academia and the industry have developed in a symbiotic manner.

In July 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a document promoting 47 "Shenzhen Experience", and the "Upstairs and Downstairs Innovation and Entrepreneurship Complex" model initiated by the Shenzhen Engineering Biology Industry Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as the "Innovation Center") was selected.

It is reported that the Innovation Center is an innovation and entrepreneurship platform jointly built by the Guangming District Government of Shenzhen and the Advanced Institute, with a construction area of over 12000 square meters.

(Shenzhen Engineering Biology Industry Innovation Center)

The so-called "upstairs and downstairs innovation and entrepreneurship complex" refers to the innovation center building,Upstairs' researchers carry out primitive innovation activities from 0 to 1 to solve basic scientific problems and support industries in core technology research; Building an industrial incubation space "downstairs", providing a shared experimental platform and think tank support for synthetic biology startups to move in.

The instruments used in synthetic biology research typically cost five to six million yuan or even more, which startups cannot afford. In innovation centers, companies can use the 'upstairs' advanced research and development platform by paying much lower fees than in the market, "said Zhong Chao.

Zhong Chao, who has been studying marine organisms - mussels for over 10 years, hatched and founded Baiyin Biology in 2021, landing at the Innovation Center. According to him, currently, surgical wounds are mostly sutured using sutures, which can leave scars. And mussel protein is like "skin glue", which has a wet bonding effect, is mild to wounds, and has a wide range of indications. It can be widely used for postoperative repair such as cesarean section.

Although the market demand is considerable, Zhong Chao predicts that it will take at least 5-8 years for the product to truly undergo market testing. "With such a long cycle, it is difficult for startups to survive

In the innovation center, the "upstairs downstairs" model solves the problem of huge experimental costs for startups on the one hand; On the other hand, researchers have promptly received market feedback and found that the difficulty of using mussel protein in the beauty and skincare field is less, such as dealing with sensitive muscle inflammation, acne, infant eczema, etc. It can generate cash flow within 2-3 years.

Taking the medical scene as the long-term goal, we aim to gain financial flow by entering the cosmetics and medical beauty raw materials race track closer to consumers. Thanks to the business model of combining the long and short term, Baiyin Biological has gained the favor of capital. As of the end of 2022, we have completed three rounds of nearly 200 million yuan financing for Angel, Angel+, and Pre A.

Bai Yin's creatures are not alone. As of July this year, the Innovation Center has organized 11 batches of enterprise selection, with 109 enterprises selected. Incubators and subsequent expansion parks have attracted 42 landing enterprises and 13 graduating enterprises. The Innovation Center focuses on 9 major channels, with a total financing amount of 2.48 billion yuan and a valuation of 16.48 billion yuan for settled enterprises.

The high emphasis on industrialization is a highlight that distinguishes advanced institutes from other scientific research institutions. Fan Jianping, academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences and then president of the Advanced Academy, once wrote an article pointing out that based on the industrial needs of Shenzhen, the Advanced Academy is positioned as an "industrial research institute", which not only encourages undertaking enterprise projects and authorizing enterprise patents, but also regards incubating enterprises as the most core way of industrialization of scientific research achievements.

After years of development, the Advanced Institute has incubated a total of 1853 enterprises and held 365 shares; A total of 17000 high-level papers have been published, 15000 patents have been applied for, and the total amount of industrial cooperation has reached 3.976 billion yuan.

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