Integration with enterprises
Xinhai Biotechnology Co.
Located in the Xihu District of Hangzhou, XinHai Biotech focuses on the research, development, production, and sales of pharmaceutical enzymes and chiral chemicals. Since 2016, the company has been selected for Hangzhou’s “5050 Program” and “Qinglan Program,” and has been recognized as a high-tech enterprise at the municipal, provincial, and national levels. Committed to leveraging advanced biotechnologies to produce high-value fine chemicals, XinHai Biotech is currently building an integrated team spanning R&D, marketing, and capital operations. By combining independent innovation with open collaboration through university-industry partnerships, the company aspires to become an innovative high-tech biotechnology enterprise.
During the visit, team members seized the valuable opportunity to introduce the overall concept, experimental progress, and design logic of the current iGEM project to Professor Yu. The team highlighted the “Differentiated Treatment” concept: sensing external stress → generating a “pulse map” signal → activating downstream regulatory genes → expressing stress-resistance proteins, forming a complete circuit logic chain.
Professor Yu expressed recognition of the team’s design and particularly noted the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) concepts. He pointed out that combining the TCM principle of “Differentiated Treatment” with synthetic biology is a highly creative approach; however, it is necessary to further clarify the correspondence between the concept at the cellular level and the traditional notion of “therapeutic effects.” He also suggested that the team continue to strengthen the link between project design and TCM principles in subsequent research to enhance the logical rigor and scientific clarity of their work.
Drawing from his own research experience, Professor Yu shared findings on “cellular activity under high-temperature conditions” and recommended relevant publications for the team to read, in order to deepen their understanding of cellular responses to heat stress. He emphasized that comparing cell states under different conditions can help the team more effectively select stress-resistance genes, thereby significantly improving project outcomes.
Finally, Professor Yu led the team on a tour of XinHai Biotech’s laboratory, providing an overview of the full production workflow from R&D to commercialization. During the visit, team members gained a clear understanding that industrial production places greater emphasis on product practicality and cost efficiency, whereas academic research prioritizes scientific exploration and principle validation. Bridging the gap between laboratory research and industrial application emerged as a key direction for future work.
Team Harvest
- Optimization of Research Design: The team will further clarify the specific implementation of the “Differentiated Treatment” concept at the cellular level and establish quantifiable experimental metrics to validate the effectiveness of the design.
- Selection of Stress-Resistance Genes: By reviewing the publications recommended by Professor Yu and analyzing cellular responses under heat stress, the team plans to screen and verify more efficient stress-resistance genes, thereby improving the responsiveness and reliability of the experimental system.
- Integration of Project Concept and Experiments: The team will strengthen the logical connection between the TCM-inspired concept and experimental design, ensuring that the chain from “concept → circuit design → experimental validation” is scientifically rigorous and easy to comprehend.
- University-Industry Collaboration Insights: Through laboratory visits, the team gained awareness of the differences between academic research and industrial production. In subsequent studies, they will consider how to transition the project from exploratory research in a university lab to potential industrial applications, laying the groundwork for future collaborations and technology translation.
WuXi Biotechnology Co.
Itinerary
- 11:00 - Arrival and Exhibition Hall Visit: The team learned about WuXi Biologics’ development history, industry layout, and core technology platforms.
- 12:45 - Laboratory Tour: Guided by company engineers, the team visited the R&D laboratories to understand project initiation, progression, and quality control procedures.
- 13:30 - Tsinghua-WuXi Alumni Panel: Alumni shared experiences in research project management and addressed questions from the team regarding research translation and career development.
- 15:00 - iGEM Project Presentation and Feedback: The team presented their iGEM project design, experimental strategies, and progress. Industry experts provided specific feedback and suggestions regarding technical feasibility and industrial applicability.
WuXi Biologics is a global leading contract research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO). Through its open, integrated biopharmaceutical capabilities and technology-enabling platforms, the company provides comprehensive end-to-end services to help partners discover, develop, and manufacture biologics. By supporting the entire process from concept to commercial production, WuXi Biologics accelerates global biologics R&D, reduces development costs, and ultimately benefits patients worldwide.
Team Harvest
- In-depth Learning of Research Translation and Business Operations: The team gained a comprehensive understanding of how WuXi Biologics manages internal projects, including project initiation, progression, risk management, and eventual translation into industrial applications. - Validation of Industrial Needs and Optimization Context: Through discussions with WuXi experts, the team verified the presence, prevalence, and impact of the “yeast stress” problem in industrial production. They also assessed existing solutions and unmet needs within the industry, helping to refine the problem background and ensure its industrial relevance. - Professional Guidance and Experimental Design Improvement: The team received professional and constructive advice from industry experts regarding experimental design rigor, technical feasibility, risk assessment, and potential scalability. Key feedback included: Question 1: In what ways does our stress-resistance strategy deviate from industrial requirements? Response: High temperature and ROS have significant impacts during fermentation. Since yeast cells have cell walls and osmotic pressure can be adjusted via feeding strategies, modules targeting high osmotic stress are less critical. In industrial fermentation, ethanol has a greater effect on yeast metabolism than osmotic pressure, and regulating ethanol—produced endogenously by yeast—is relatively difficult. Suggestion: Replace the high-osmotic stress module in the oscillator with an ethanol-sensing module. Use metabolomics and transcriptomics to identify key genes during fermentation to enhance stress-resistance efficiency. Question 2: What are the limitations of our stress-resistance operations? Response: Gene deletion pathways must be effectively controlled to prevent genetic leakage. Degradation tags via ubiquitination typically require several hours for protein degradation, which cannot match the rapid, dynamic demands of fermentation. Suggestion: Thoroughly validate safety modules and use protease-mediated degradation or serial dilution for faster response. Question 3: What is the industrial application potential of the project? Response: Complex gene-level systems increase mutation risk; thus, industrial production typically favors simpler, more stable systems. However, simpler systems often have limited effects. If oscillator stability across generations can be achieved, it has significant translational value. Suggestion: Select more stable elements for system construction and assess overall stability under generational pressure. - Expanding Industry-Academia Collaboration and Social Impact: The team established connections with a leading global pharmaceutical company, promoting knowledge exchange and resource sharing between academia and industry. This interaction provided insights into potential translational opportunities for the project and laid a foundation for moving iGEM research from academic exploration toward practical application.
Cabio Biotech Co.
Founded in September 2004, Jabil Biotech is the first Sci-Tech Innovation Board-listed enterprise in Hubei Province and one of China’s earliest high-tech companies specializing in the fermentation-based production of polyunsaturated fatty acids (e.g., ARA and DHA). Evolving from its predecessor, Onewang Biotech, and later in partnership with Cargill, Jabil Biotech has continuously developed its capabilities. The company positions “biotechnology as its foundation, synthetic biology as its core technology, and cell factories as the production method,” establishing a complete technology-industrial chain that includes strain optimization, fine-tuned fermentation control, separation and purification, formulation processes, and functional testing.
Guided by company engineers, the Tsinghua-M iGEM team visited CABIO Biotech’s smart manufacturing facility on August 30,2025, touring the core fermentation, sorting and packaging, and powder production areas. All three production zones operate under semi-automated management, where a limited number of staff monitor and control numerous fermentation tanks and production lines. The visit was structured in three phases—corporate introduction, smart factory tour, and in-depth discussion—providing the team with a comprehensive understanding of modern biomanufacturing.
Team Harvest
- Understanding Modern Biomanufacturing: Through factory tours and technical briefings, the team gained deeper insight into the integration of synthetic biology and industrial fermentation, and recognized critical points in translating research into production. - Automation and Quality Control Insights: The team learned the significance of real-time monitoring, sample quality control, and microencapsulation techniques in large-scale industrial production. - Innovation Combined with Industrialization: The team recognized the potential of combining academic creativity with enterprise-scale platforms, offering a reference for the potential industrial application of future projects.
Evolyzer Biotech Co.
Guided by company engineers, the Tsinghua-M iGEM team visited CABIO Biotech’s smart manufacturing facility on August 30,2025, touring the core fermentation, sorting and packaging, and powder production areas. All three production zones operate under semi-automated management, where a limited number of staff monitor and control numerous fermentation tanks and production lines. The visit was structured in three phases—corporate introduction, smart factory tour, and in-depth discussion—providing the team with a comprehensive understanding of modern biomanufacturing.
Summary of Exchange Process
On the afternoon of September 11, 2025, members of the Tsinghua-M2025 team visited Yanwei Technology for an on-site visit and exchange. During the event, the team systematically reported their project progress to Dr. Wang Miaomiao of Yanwei Technology, which included the following: 1. Project Design Concept: Based on the traditional Chinese medicine concept of “pulse perception,” a ternary genetic oscillator system was constructed to achieve dynamic sensing and pulsed responses to high temperature, oxidative stress, and hyperosmotic stress. 2. Experimental Progress: The feasibility of the oscillatory circuit was validated through kinetic modeling and a fluorescent reporter system, along with preliminary analysis of the correlation between stress and oscillation. 3. Achievements in Human Practices: The team actively engaged in corporate interviews, science popularization activities, and new media campaigns to enhance public awareness of synthetic biology. Subsequently, both parties held an in-depth Q&A session centered on the project. Experts from Yanwei Technology provided constructive suggestions from multiple perspectives, including experimental design, market demand, biosafety, and system application.
Team Harvest
This exchange provided crucial inspiration and practical guidance for advancing the team's project. The specific takeaways include: 1. Directions for Experimental Optimization: There is a need to further clarify the specific mechanisms of action of each oscillator component, strengthen the validation of promoter expression under different stress conditions, and enhance the logical self-consistency of the project's background. 2. Expansion of Industrial Perspective: The assessment of the system's practical benefits—such as improving strain robustness and reducing production costs—should be grounded in actual industrial scenarios, for example, ethanol fermentation. 3. Biosafety Considerations: It is essential to conduct a biosafety assessment of the engineered strain in accordance with current regulations, paying particular attention to the risks associated with environmental release 4. Potential for System Application: The portability of the oscillator module to different biocatalytic scenarios should be explored, alongside the potential for building a universal library of stress-sensing and resistance elements. Through this exchange, the team not only received professional feedback but also gained greater clarity on the subsequent research priorities and the industrialization pathway for the project.
Communication with other iGEM teams
Face-to-face communication with BIT-China
In July 2025, the Tsinghua-M 2025 iGEM team and the BIT-China team gathered for an in-depth face-to-face exchange with Liu Yang, one of the leaders of the Wuhan Synthetic Biology Innovation Center. Focusing on both projects, Liu Yang provided detailed comments on technical specifics and industrialization strategies, offering several highly insightful suggestions for the competing teams. This exchange not only provided technical advice but also encouraged both teams to reevaluate their designs from an industrial perspective. Liu Yang’s feedback emphasized a core idea—scientific research design must incorporate an industrial mindset, and competition projects should have the potential for continuity. Within the framework of the IHP track, synthetic biology is not a concept confined to the laboratory but is instead connected to real-world needs. Whether it involves eco-friendly dyeing or cellular stress resistance systems, the ultimate goal of these projects is to solve practical problems and create sustainable value.
Face-to-face communication with WHU-China
In August 2025, the Tsinghua-M 2025 iGEM team and the Wuhan University iGEM team convened at Wuhan J-Bio Company for an in-depth exchange regarding their respective projects. Both teams began with brief introductions of their projects, emphasizing the background and societal significance of their proposals, and addressed each other’s questions. Subsequently, the two teams engaged in detailed discussions on the feasibility and necessity of practical implementation. The Wuhan University iGEM team provided constructive feedback on Tsinghua’s project, offering numerous insights for further optimization. This interaction allowed the Tsinghua team to re-examine their project from a novel, external perspective, identifying existing shortcomings and potential directions for future improvement. Beyond facilitating mutual understanding and collaborative problem-solving between the two teams, this gathering served as an intellectual forum where individuals passionate about synthetic biology converged to brainstorm and contemplate the future development and prospects of the field.
Online communication with BIT-China
In September 2025, the Tsinghua-M 2025 iGEM team and the Beijing Institute of Technology iGEM team held another online project exchange via Tencent Meeting. As the golden preparation period during the summer vacation had concluded and the competition date was approaching, the two teams discussed their achievements over the summer and recent project progress, sharing the challenges encountered during their project development and the corresponding solutions. Building on their previous exchange, the teams deepened their mutual understanding, with the counterpart team expressing particular interest in the new design concepts recently proposed by our team during the summer. In addition to wet and dry lab work, the teams also exchanged insights on human practices, further reinforcing their commitment to such activities. They emphasized that only projects open to the public and the world can qualify as successful products, and addressing human needs and public expectations for synthetic biology is essential for every iGEM team.
Exchange Between Tsinghua-M2025 and SKLBE-china
On September 21, 2025, Tsinghua-M2025 and SKLBE-China held a productive online exchange. Both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on their respective synthetic biology projects, shared research ideas and practical experiences, and explored potential improvements and future collaborations.
SKLBE-China presented their project "Engineering Probiotics for Efficient Xanthine Transport to Manage Hyperuricemia," targeting hyperuricemia as a widespread metabolic disorder. By engineering ingestible probiotics to transport and metabolize xanthine in the intestine, the project aims to reduce uric acid production. The team also introduced a self-developed large language model for predicting xanthine intake and plans to build a public education platform to promote synthetic biology in disease management.
During the Q&A session, both teams openly discussed technical challenges, application scenarios, and ethical considerations, offering constructive feedback. The Tsinghua team commended SKLBE's large language model and suggested enhancing its capabilities for personalized health analysis.
This exchange not only facilitated mutual learning in synthetic biology but also laid a solid foundation for future collaboration. Both teams expressed their commitment to maintaining communication and advancing their projects to a higher level.