“The focus of bio-manufacturing lies in ‘designing life,’This requires robust underlying capabilities.: gene editing tools, strain design algorithms, enzyme engineering technologies, metabolic pathway databases, etc., but these are currently relatively weak links in China.”

“Moreover, core microbial strains still largely depend on foreign resources; key enzymes and certain components of bioreactors remain reliant on imports; and industrial-grade bioinformatics databases have not yet been fully established.“To achieve true ‘intelligent life manufacturing,’ it is essential to overcome these fundamental challenges and build an independent, controllable technological foundation.”

In a recent article published in the People's Daily, Tan Tianwei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, stated.

Academician Tan Tianwei is a principal pioneer of China’s biomanufacturing industry. He was the first to propose the concept of third-generation biomanufacturing on the international stage, leveraging biomanufacturing approaches to develop bioenergy, bio-based materials, and nutritional health products. He has achieved breakthroughs in the fermentative production of lipases and their application in industrial enzymatic catalysis. These contributions have helped enhance production efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, thereby promoting the high-quality development of China’s biomanufacturing industry.

“Break Through Underlying Technological Barriers and Build an Independent Innovation System”It has always been a key focus emphasized by Academician Tan Tianwei for the development of the biomanufacturing industry.

Previously, Academician Tan Tianwei published an article in New Industrialization, pointing out that China’s bio-manufacturing sector should prioritize the development of foundational technologies and promote the integrated innovation of biotechnology and artificial intelligence, so as to bridge the gap with leading international countries in underlying technologies such as data and software. Specifically, this includes:

• Breakthroughs in Key Foundational Technologies for Enzyme and Cell Design, enabling the design of specialized functional enzyme molecules and the construction of highly robust chassis strains, to create a biocatalyst system adapted to industrial environments and feedstocks.

• Build a database and hardware-software support system with independent intellectual property rights, established a large-scaleDNASynthesis and intelligent assembly, standardized biological parts and strain libraries, and automated engineering biology design infrastructure; establish an intelligent design platform for “protein structure prediction–metabolic network modeling–virtual iteration of cell factories” to enhance China’s original innovation capability in biomanufacturing.

• and develop high-throughput technologies with independent intellectual property rightsDNASynthesizer, online metabolic monitoring sensors, modular bioreactors, and other specialized equipment, to achieve independent control over key equipment.

In addition to the need for improvement in foundational capabilities, Tan Tianwei further pointed out that China’s biomanufacturing industry still faces challenges in translating scientific research achievements into industrial applications.

According to the analysis, many biomanufacturing technologies have already matured in the laboratory,However, it has stalled at the pilot scale-up stage during the industrialization process.Bioreaction processes are extremely complex; microbial strains that are highly active during small-scale trials often “go on strike” in large-scale fermentation tanks. Cost control, stability, and safety are also frequent challenges.

Currently, China is accelerating the development of national-level pilot-scale validation platforms to bridge the gap between scientific research and industrial application. In the future, these platforms will serve as a bridge for transforming biomanufacturing achievements from “papers” into “products,” enabling more scientific outcomes to reach the market.

Academician Tan Tianwei places particular emphasis on the development of pilot-scale platforms., it is recommended to strengthen the construction of national-level pilot-scale testing platforms and accelerate the commercialization of technologies.

To address the common needs of the industry, we will establish a number of general-purpose pilot-scale-up platforms and bases for biomanufacturing that can serve small and medium-sized innovative enterprises. These facilities will provide end-to-end services covering “strain design–process validation–product certification,” effectively promoting technological innovation and iteration at each scale-up stage from basic research to manufacturing production, thereby compressing the technology transfer cycle to3~5year, accelerating the promotion of startups and research institutes "from0to1” breakthrough technology has entered the mass production stage.

“Furthermore, the integration of new technologies into daily life relies on institutional safeguards. Currently, low-carbon certification, biosafety assessments, and market access mechanisms for bio-based products still require further refinement. How can the carbon emission reduction contributions of biomanufacturing products be quantified? How can the environmental risks of synthetic microorganisms be assessed?”These all require the establishment of unified standards.” Academician Tan Tianwei further emphasized.

Despite numerous challenges, Academician Tan Tianwei remains highly optimistic about the industrial prospects of biomanufacturing.

According to forecasts by relevant institutions, by2050In 2023, globally approximately60%Industrial products can be produced through biomanufacturing.The economic value generated by biomanufacturing in the future may exceed30trillion U.S. dollars. Academician Tan Tianwei has emphasized that, to some extent, the importance of biomanufacturing is no less than that of chip development.

“Because biomanufacturing is reshaping the logic of traditional production. If the Industrial Revolution saw machines replace manual labor, then biomanufacturing sees life itself replace machines. Biomanufacturing is permeating every aspect of our lives and subtly transforming the underlying logic of production.”Academician Tan Tianwei stated.

From the perspective of specific industrial applications, as summarized by Academician Tianwei Tan:

In the fashion industry:Scientists have enabled bacteria to “secrete” silk proteins, creating soft and abrasion-resistant biosilk; algae and fungi can synthesize biodegradable fibers to replace petroleum-based textiles such as polyester and nylon.

In the field of architecture:Scientists have used “bio-brick” technology to combine fungal mycelium with mineral particles, forming hard, lightweight bricks. These bricks can self-repair in humid environments and absorb carbon dioxide.

Future Automotive and Aviation Sectors:It may be possible to utilize “oil made from carbon dioxide.” Certain specialized microbial strains can “consume” carbon dioxide and “excrete” ethanol or aviation fuel.

In the medical field:Biomanufacturing is reshaping how pharmaceuticals are produced. Drug molecules that once required hundreds of synthesis steps can now be synthesized by microorganisms in a matter of days. In the future, physicians may be able to “print” drugs and tissue organs directly within hospitals, enabling personalized medicine.

According to Academician Tan Tianwei, the future development of the biomanufacturing industry will follow three major trends.

Trend 1: “Artificial Intelligence+"Biomanufacturing"——Making “designing life” as easy as writing code. Artificial intelligence is becoming the new engine of biomanufacturing. Through machine learning, AI can help scientists predict the effects of genetic mutations, optimize metabolic pathways, and rapidly screen for high-yield strains. Whereas improving a microbial strain used to take years, AI can now shorten this timeframe to just weeks.

Trend 2: Carbon Cycle Manufacturing——From “Carbon Consumption” to “Carbon Circulation”: Carbon Capture Using Carbon Dioxide as a Feedstock+“Bioconversion” technology has achieved significant breakthroughs. In the future, an increasing number of factories will not only eliminate carbon dioxide emissions but also “consume carbon and produce goods.” This signifies that the manufacturing industry may transition from “carbon consumption” to a “carbon cycle.”

Trend 3: Cross-Boundary Integration——From Single Technologies to Ecological Networks. Future biomanufacturing will no longer be a single technology, but an interdisciplinary ecological network: the integration of biology and materials science will give rise to novel biomaterials; the convergence of biotechnology and the energy industry will establish green fuel systems; and the fusion of biomanufacturing with intelligent manufacturing will birth automated, digitalized, and programmable “bio-factories.”

▲Beautiful Biomanufacturing

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▲ Map of Biomanufacturing Enterprises

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|Bloomage Biotech|Kelun Pharmaceutical|Sinopharm Modern|

|Angel Yeast|Weikang Biology|Jinbo Biotech|

丨Obio Technology|Brother Enterprises|Chenguang Biotech|

|Muyuan Foods|Microelement Synthesis|Tuoxin Pharmaceutical|

|Huaheng Biotechnology|Zhenghai Biotech|Huadong Medicine|

|Laiyin Biology|Baoji Pharmaceutical|Chutian Technology|

|Yinhang Bio|Juyuan Biotech|Bio-Union|

|MicroFar Bio|Yixi Biotech|Zhiyu Bio|

|Tianwu Technology|Manson Biology|Duality Biologics|