Calling out Zhejiang! What are Academician Deng Zixin's views on the synthetic biology industry?

He mentioned that the development of synthetic biology has important strategic significance.

First, by replacing traditional chemical engineering with biomanufacturing, carbon emissions and energy consumption can be significantly reduced, breaking the deadlock of resource and environmental issues.

For example, using synthetic biotechnology, it is possible to achieve the fermentative synthesis of bio-based nylon. Compared with traditional chemical synthesis methods, this significantly reduces energy consumption and pollution. According to statistics, currently, bio-manufactured products on average save 30%—50% in energy and reduce emissions by the same amount, with the potential to reach 50%—70% in the future.

Secondly, by developing entirely new synthetic routes, it is possible to break the dependence on imported raw materials and products, ensuring supply chain security.

Third, by developing entirely new products or production routes with lower costs, rapidly and comprehensively disrupt the global product supply landscape.

According to the "China Synthetic Biology Industry White Paper 2024", the global market size of synthetic biology has grown from $5.3 billion in 2018 to over $17 billion in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 27%.

In the foreseeable future, synthetic biology will continue to maintain a rapid development momentum, growing into a global market with a size approaching 50 billion US dollars by 2028.

By the end of this century, synthetic biology will be widely applied in manufacturing that accounts for more than one-third of global output, creating a value of 30 trillion US dollars.

Compared to Europe and America, although China's synthetic biology industry started later, in recent years, the policy support has been continuously increasing, and the development momentum is strong. With the strong support of the national and local governments, China has formed three research centers and industrial hubs for synthetic biology in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin.

Although our country's synthetic biology has made significant progress in certain application areas, there are still shortcomings in terms of independent chassis microorganisms, original innovation capabilities, high-end talent reserves, R&D investment, and industrial conversion efficiency, and it still has a certain gap from the world's advanced levels.

Academician Deng Zixin also stated in the article: In promoting the development of the synthetic biology industry, I believe that Zhejiang has great potential.

First, Zhejiang has a strong economic foundation and active private capital, providing sufficient financial support for synthetic biology innovation.

Second, high-level research institutions such as Zhejiang University and Westlake University collaborate deeply with leading enterprises, accelerating technology transformation through a closely-knit network of industry-academia-research collaboration;

Third, Zhejiang's solid industrial foundation provides a mature setting for the application of synthetic biotechnology.

Fourth, Zhejiang has a huge consumer market, with strong demand in areas such as medical aesthetics and health foods, driving rapid commercialization of technology. Finally, the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta facilitates cross-regional resource integration.

In January of this year, the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Zhejiang Province issued the "Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Innovative Development of Synthetic Biology Industry in Zhejiang Province," proposing to strive to form a highland of innovative development of the synthetic biology industry with international influence by 2027. This demonstrates Zhejiang's determination and vision to seize the commanding heights of future development and build new competitive advantages for the future by focusing on the innovative development of the synthetic biology industry.

Academician Zheng Zixin also put forward several suggestions, proposing that Zhejiang's development of the synthetic biology industry should focus on strengthening a "trinity layout" of "policy innovation, technological breakthroughs, and ecological synergy":

Deepen the special policy support for synthetic biology, establish a key technology breakthrough fund, and overcome bottlenecks such as gene editing tools;

accelerate the construction of a full-chain transformation system from "basic research—pilot verification—industrial implementation", and promote the joint establishment of collaborative innovation platforms by universities, research institutions, and leading enterprises;

Leveraging the advantages of the integrated Yangtze River Delta, integrating regional biopharmaceutical and chemical industry resources, to create a cross-regional industrial ecosystem;