Guo Xueping, Chief Scientist of Huaxi Biology: Synthetic Biology is embarking on a new journey of raw material and industrial transformation

On June 3, 2023, the China (Jinan) Hyaluronic Acid Industry Conference, with the theme of "Technology Building and Innovation Leading", was grandly opened in Jinan, Shandong. At the same time, the "Conference on Cell Factories and Functional Sugar Biomanufacturing" and the 4th Bioactive Substances Series Conference were also held with great success

On June 3, 2023, the China (Jinan) Hyaluronic Acid Industry Conference, with the theme of "Technology Building and Innovation Leading", was grandly opened in Jinan, Shandong. At the same time, the "Conference on Cell Factories and Functional Sugar Biomanufacturing" and the 4th Bioactive Substances Series Conference were also held with great success. Dozens of well-known experts and scholars from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, the Process engineering Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shandong University, Jiangnan University and other universities attended the forum, and jointly conducted authoritative interpretation and multi-party discussion on the development status, new trends and new achievements in the field of functional sugar, to promote the high-quality implementation of functional sugar industry and related technological innovation.

Guo Xueping, chief scientist of Huaxi Biology, shares the progress of Glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis

As the representative of the enterprise side, Guo Xueping, the chief scientist of Huaxi Biology, attended the forum and shared it with the theme of "Progress in Glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis". Hyaluronic acid, heparin and Chondroitin sulfate are the three most widely used Glycosaminoglycan. According to data, more than 80% of the world's hyaluronic acid and Chondroitin sulfate raw materials are produced in China, while more than 60% of heparin raw materials are produced in China. At the meeting, Dr. Guo Xueping introduced the progress in the biosynthesis of the three most widely used Glycosaminoglycan, such as hyaluronic acid, heparin and Chondroitin sulfate, and shared the application and achievements of Huaxi Biotechnology in related fields.

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance in the human body, widely used in fields such as medicine, medical aesthetics, cosmetics, and functional foods due to its excellent water retention, lubricity, and biocompatibility. The production technology of hyaluronic acid is constantly improving, and the application scenarios are constantly expanding. In the three important industrial revolutions in the field of hyaluronic acid, Huaxi Biotechnology has led and led the latter two industrial revolutions by large-scale production of hyaluronic acid through microbial fermentation and the world's first large-scale production of oligomeric hyaluronic acid through enzymatic digestion. At present, the fermentation of engineering bacteria in Synthetic biology can replace the traditional cockscomb extraction method and wild bacteria fermentation method, and has the advantages of safe chassis cells, reconstruction and optimization of the synthesis pathway, and significant improvement of the fermentation level. Compared to the previous microbial fermentation method of extracting 16-17g of hyaluronic acid from each liter of extract, Huaxi Biotechnology can currently extract 74g of hyaluronic acid from each liter of extract through synthetic biotechnology, resulting in a more than four fold increase in hyaluronic acid yield and leading global technology.

In addition, in response to the current research bottleneck in the field of hyaluronic acid biosynthesis, where both yield and molecular weight cannot be achieved simultaneously, Dr. Guo Xueping pointed out strategies such as optimizing fermentation conditions to balance the relationship between HA synthesis and cell growth, and strengthening the supply of HA precursors. At the same time, Dr. Guo Xueping made industry prospects for important directions in the field of hyaluronic acid biosynthesis, such as Systems biology analysis of high analysis of HA synthesis mechanism, molecular biology verification of high production of HA, metabolic engineering transformation of high production of Streptococcus zooepidemicus, etc.

&Nbsp& Nbsp& Nbsp; Heparin is widely present in cell membranes and extracellular matrix, and is mainly used as an anticoagulant in clinical practice. In addition, it has significant effects in anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral aspects. There are different production methods for heparin, including animal source extraction of heparin, full chemical synthesis of heparin, and biosynthesis. However, the first two have problems such as fragile supply chain, difficult quality control, and low yield and high price, which urgently require the establishment of a low-cost and efficient heparin sugar chain synthesis system. At present, Huaxi Biotechnology has developed a biosynthetic method to produce heparin, which can reduce costs and increase efficiency. This can change the current situation where drug raw materials rely entirely on animal sources, and through innovative technologies, assist in the iterative upgrading of the synthesis enzyme system, one-step synthesis of heparin, gradually achieve large-scale preparation, and assist in the development of new drugs.

Chondroitin sulfate is distributed in cells and has various biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypolipidemic, anticoagulant, improving food flavor, color and taste, moisturizing, etc. It is widely used in medicine, food, skin care products and other fields. China is the largest producer and exporter of Chondroitin sulfate, and more than 80% of Chondroitin sulfate raw materials are provided by Chinese enterprises. Different from the previous animal tissue extraction method, the production of Chondroitin sulfate by biosynthesis method will not be restricted by raw materials, and at the same time, it is environmentally friendly and has uniform structure. At present, Huaxi Biology has established the precursor fermentation and purification process of Chondroitin sulfate, with the yield of 8-10g/L and the purity of more than 95%. It has also developed Huaxi patented Chondroitin Hydrolase, and established the controllable production of saturated Chondroitin oligosaccharides, with the molecular weight controlled to below 10000Da.

After Dr. Guo Xueping's introduction and sharing, people have gained a deeper understanding of the changes and impacts that synthetic biotechnology has brought to human production and life, and it has also sparked people's thinking on how biotechnology can better serve industrial development.

Huaxi Biotechnology takes the lead in laying out synthetic biology and leading industrial transformation with raw material innovation

Throughout history, the emergence of new raw materials and major revolutions in raw material production technology have brought fundamental qualitative changes to the industry, thereby empowering industrial upgrading. The "creation revolution" brought about by synthetic biology, which replaces the original petrochemical based sources, animal extraction, plant extraction, chemical extraction, etc. with bio based materials, will overturn traditional production methods, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, and is expected to further amplify the cost advantage of enterprises.

Taking Salidroside as an example, the traditional cost of obtaining Salidroside is as high as 30000 yuan/kg, while the production cost is less than 500 yuan per kg through synthetic biological production, which is not affected by raw materials. Meanwhile, synthetic organisms make the production process greener and more environmentally friendly. According to data from Tianfeng Securities, the application of biotechnology can reduce industrial process energy consumption by 15% -80%, raw material consumption by 35% -75%, air pollution by 50% -90%, and water pollution by 33% -80%. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates that industrial biotechnology will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 billion to 2.5 billion tons annually in 2030.

It can be seen that the synthetic biological production method has advantages such as controllable raw material sources, significant cost reduction and efficiency increase, and green environmental protection. In the context of global sustainable development, synthetic organisms will converge into huge industrial advantages, promoting high-quality development in various fields such as agriculture, biopharmaceuticals, energy, and new materials.

Huaxi Biological has been laying out synthetic organisms since 2018. As a well-known biotechnology and biomaterials company, Huaxi Biotechnology is currently the "only" synthetic biology enterprise in China that integrates three major capabilities: complete research and development innovation capabilities, pilot conversion and industrialization capabilities, and product application and market transformation capabilities. It has chassis cell design capabilities, industrial transformation advantages, and terminal marketization advantages.

At present, Huaxi Biology has built the whole industrial chain platform of Synthetic biology, and has actively opened up production, learning and research. It has carried out research and development, co creation and cooperation in fields related to synthetic biology with Tsinghua University, Jiangnan University, Beijing University of Chemical Technology and other universities and research institutes. In addition, Huaxi Biology has built the world's largest pilot scale transformation platform. With the help of fermentation advantages for more than 20 years, it has accelerated the transformation of Synthetic biology scientific research achievements. In terms of market channels and brand building, Huaxi Biotech has the advantage of marketization of end consumer goods, and can provide forward-looking insights into market demand, thereby providing guidance for raw material research and development. In addition, Huaxi Biotechnology has independently built the world's first synthetic biology science museum, conveying scientific knowledge of synthetic biology to the public and providing assistance for the development of the synthetic biology industry.

Huaxi Biotechnology mainly focuses on the development and industrial application of functional sugars, proteins, peptides, amino acids, nucleotides, natural active compounds, and other bioactive substances that contribute to life and health. In addition to hyaluronic acid, using synthetic biotechnology, Huaxi Biotechnology has realized industrial transformation step by step on gamma aminobutyric acid, 5-amino Levulinic acid, ekodone, ergotin, human milk oligosaccharides, Chondroitin sulfate, heparin, collagen, beta Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and other biological active substances. These substances will expand the innovation boundary of terminal health consumer goods, so that synthetic biotechnology will eventually serve the fields of medical health, skin care products, food and beverage, paper making, disinfection and sterilization, pets, etc., and bring new consumption experiences to people.

With bioactive raw materials as the source of innovation, Huaxi Biotechnology will fully leverage the leading role of leading enterprises, and with the support of synthetic biotechnology, continue to lead the upstream and downstream development of the industrial chain, bringing a healthy, beautiful, and happy life experience to humanity.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is sourced from the internet. The copyright of the text, images, and other materials belongs to the original author. The platform reprints the materials for the purpose of conveying more information. The content of the article is for reference and learning only, and should not be used for commercial purposes. If it infringes on your legitimate rights and interests, please contact us promptly and we will handle it as soon as possible! We respect copyright and are committed to protecting it. Thank you for sharing.(Email:[email protected])