On August 26 - 28, 2022, a Seminar on Synthetic Biology Infrastructure (A Special Session Pooling Wisdom) was held at the SIAT, sponsored by the Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, and co-organized by the Major Synthetic Biology Infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the Infrastructure. Read the original text for its official introduction). 11 synthetic biology infrastructure builders, 45 scholars from the Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, and more than 100 experts outside the Institute with an excellent research background in life science gathered to explore how to co-build and share the synthetic biology infrastructure and make due contribution to the life science research and economic development of China.
The academic agenda of the event consisted of four special reports, namely “the past, present and future of the synthetic biology infrastructure” (reported by 8 speakers), “the synthetic biology perspective of acellular life system” (reported by 8 speakers), “the synthetic biology perspective of prokaryotic cell life system and mathematical analysis of complex systems” (reported by 4 speakers), “the synthetic biology perspective of mammals and plants life systems” (reported by 13 speakers) and a panel discussion of 1.5 hours. This meeting aimed to gather experts and scholars with an excellent research background in life science and synthetic biology infrastructure builders to pool their wisdom and combine learning with practice, thereby improving the foundation of China’s synthetic biology and the quality and throughput of applied research and making due contribution to the high-quality development of China’s life science and economy.
The report “Overall Situation of Synthetic Biology Infrastructure: Past, Present and Future” revealed to us the preparation detail and development vision of the infrastructure. Six experts involved in the construction of the infrastructure introduced the strategic layout, construction arrangement and process of the infrastructure from six aspects. Based on the integration of information technology and biotechnology, the infrastructure aimed to build high-throughput, automated and standardized synthetic biology research infrastructure through interconnection of information and equipment, so as to overcome the constraints of the white box-black box model with large-scale, standardized and high-quality synthetic biology data capacity.
Next, 32 experts and scholars from different institutes and universities respectively introduced the latest achievements and research progress in their research field and showed us the synthetic biology perspectives in different fields of life science such as the actual application of synthetic biology infrastructure in each research field of life science, the acellular life system, the prokaryotic cell life system, mammals and plants life system. The panel discussion was an in-depth exploration on the topics such as challenges faced by synthetic biology, how to gather experts and scholars in the field of life sciences to co-build and share the infrastructure, and the near-term, medium-term and long-term plans of the infrastructure.
At the 2018 Conference of Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “new changes will occur in the field of life science, represented by synthetic biology, gene editing, brain science and regenerative medicine”. As a key and core technology with a promising prospect in the industrial field today, synthetic biology is of great significance in changing the mode of economic growth of related industries in China and achieving the sustainable development of industry. Relying on the standardization, automation, high throughput of the synthetic biology infrastructure, it helps overcome the bottlenecks and difficulties hindering original innovation, shorten the period from basic research to achievement transformation, combine science and industry, form a whole process innovation model of “research-transformation-industry” and lead the world in the field of synthetic biology.
The meeting not only put forward feasible advice and suggestions for the near-term, medium-term and long-term development plans of synthetic biology, but also offered an opportunity of further communication for experts to exchange experience and share ideas around the key demands and pain spots, seek for the direction and way to change the future and explore the win-win cooperation mechanism.
A group photo taken at the site