On the occasion of the 74th Youth Day in China, Luo Xiaozhou, a researcher from Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was honored the title of "Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Nanshan District" in 2023.
Luo Xiaozhou, serves as a researcher from Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, executive director of Synthetic Biochemistry Research Center of Institute of Synthetic Biology, deputy chief technologist of major scientific and technological infrastructure of synthetic biology research in Shenzhen, and founder of Synceres Biosciences (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. In 2019, he joined Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, founded the Research Center of Synthetic Biochemistry, and has served as Executive Director since then. At the same time, he was deputy chief technologist of major scientific and technological infrastructure of synthetic biology research in Shenzhen. He has been selected as a young expert in national major projects for talent development and a national high-level talent in Shenzhen.
Academically, Luo Xiaozhou has been engaged in synthetic biology research related to natural products and their derivatives for a long time. He has achieved groundbreaking results in areas such as high-throughput enzyme engineering, genetic codon expansion techniques, and automated strain construction and optimization. He has published over 30 papers in top international journals like Nature and Nature Chemical Biology and holds 4 authorized patents. Because of his pioneering research in the fields of chemical biology and synthetic biology, he was invited to be the associate editor-in-chief for the internationally renowned journal “BMC Biotechnology” and a member of the editorial board for the journal “Synthetic Biology”. As the project leader, he successively undertook projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, including the general projects, the project for Guangdong Provincial Outstanding Young Scholars, and the project for Shenzhen Municipal Outstanding Young Scholars. As the topic leader and key member, he was responsible for two key special projects on "Synthetic Biology" from the Ministry of Science and Technology.
In terms of industrialization, Luo Xiaozhou has actively promoted collaborations between his research center and multiple enterprises for industrial development. The biosynthesis of cannabinoids, which his team completed, stands as a classic case in the synthesis of terpenoid compounds, attracting significant interest from various investment groups. In 2019, Luo Xiaozhou established Synceres Biosciences (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. in Nanshan District through patent and technology investment, and actively participated in the company's development. The company is committed to using automated facilities and standardizing and generalizing elements to achieve an integrated innovation and entrepreneurship path from components to gene pathways, biological devices, and synthetic biology. Synceres has completed financing of hundreds of millions of yuan from well-known investment institutions, including Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC) and Shenzhen HTI Group. The company has created over 100 jobs in Nanshan District and has been featured on the "Top 50 Noteworthy Synthetic Biology Companies" list published by the data analysis platform, EB Insights. It is one of the nine Chinese companies to be featured on the list.